Internship... software development or IT?

[clickynext]

So I'm planning my near future right now, looking for summer internships. I've been offered two: software developer at a small no-name company, or IT technician at a large, well known company.

They're both designated internship positions, so pretty much the bottom of the food chain, but I've got the impression that software development is higher up and more valuable experience. I think I might enjoy IT more, though. Of course this is just my speculation; I've never worked anything like this before.

I know a lot of people on here work in and are knowledgeable in these fields, so I wanted to ask your opinion on which you think is better, all things considered.

 

[clamum]

What would you rather do? What sort of job do you plan on getting after school?

 

[ppdes]

I really enjoy being a developer. Writing code feels like actually creating something. The IT people seem to just fix problems and setup servers and whatnot, which seems boring to me.

 

[iversonyin]

IT because you might have to work with a lot of Chinese and Indian in software development...which can be unpleasant to certain people:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=38&threadid=2021477&enterthread=y

 

[EmperorIQ]

I say go with the smaller company if you want overall learning experience. Since they are smaller, they will most likely give you more responsibilities, and hopefully with more responsibilities you'll learn more. Bigger company's names might look better on your resume though.

 

[yllus]

I'm likely biased as a software developer, but doesn't development have a far better future outlook than that of a technician? While it may be more fun to "work with your hands", these are also the jobs quickly being outsourced and otherwise minimized.

People like to say the same about development, but I find the truth of that is it's far harder to find competent developers anywhere, much less ones who are up to speed on your business logic and can communicate well. As I told the VP of Marketing at my company a week ago, if there's anything our debacle with CRM software (built and customized for us overseas by Indians) reinforced in my mind, it's that my job market is here to stay.

 

[pcnerd37]

I have dabbled in both and im currently going to school to become a software developer. I certainly find IT more enjoyable, but I see little future in software development. I enjoy programming to an extent, but it is certainly more mentally taxing then IT. I would say if you want a future, go software development, but if i you a fun, hands on job, go IT.

 

[jaybert]

Originally posted by: pcnerd37
I have dabbled in both and im currently going to school to become a software developer. I certainly find IT more enjoyable, but I see little future in software development. I enjoy programming to an extent, but it is certainly more mentally taxing then IT. I would say if you want a future, go software development, but if i you a fun, hands on job, go IT.

im doing software development (as a consultant)...but if its a choice between a large well known company, and a small no-name (and not small as in exclusive...small as in producing software that no one knows about), I would choose the large company, just for networking opportunities alone. Even if you decide after doing the IT internship you want to do software development, you will still have a legup on getting a dev position at that company since you've worked there before (assuming your bosses liked you). If you take the software dev job, since its such a small company, the opportunities they will be able to offer you after graduating will be much smaller

 

[pcnerd37]

Originally posted by: jaybert

Originally posted by: pcnerd37
I have dabbled in both and im currently going to school to become a software developer. I certainly find IT more enjoyable, but I see little future in software development. I enjoy programming to an extent, but it is certainly more mentally taxing then IT. I would say if you want a future, go software development, but if i you a fun, hands on job, go IT.

im doing software development (as a consultant)...but if its a choice between a large well known company, and a small no-name (and not small as in exclusive...small as in producing software that no one knows about), I would choose the large company, just for networking opportunities alone. Even if you decide after doing the IT internship you want to do software development, you will still have a legup on getting a dev position at that company since you've worked there before (assuming your bosses liked you). If you take the software dev job, since its such a small company, the opportunities they will be able to offer you after graduating will be much smaller

That is very true, I would certainly prefer to work in a larger company. I think there is alot more opportunities for networking, advancement and raises with a large company than with a small company.

 

[xtknight]

IMO software development is a lot more fun than IT (answering the same tired questions, dealing with annoying people). You can take more pride in what you do in that field.

 

[pcnerd37]

Originally posted by: xtknight
IMO software development is a lot more fun than IT (answering the same tired questions, dealing with annoying people). You can take more pride in what you do in that field.

That is also a very good point, the one part about that job i dont miss is dealing with people who dont have a clue what they want or what they are talking about.

 

[ultimatebob]

Switch over to sales while you can! That's there all the money and job recognition is.

Most software development is being done overseas now, and most IT work is boring and thankless. Neither one of them are going to make you rich or famous, unless you're one of those few brilliant folks who develops the next Google or YouTube in your garage.

I don't know... Perhaps I'm just more bitter than usual today

 

[newnameman]

Originally posted by: pcnerd37
I have dabbled in both and im currently going to school to become a software developer. I certainly find IT more enjoyable, but I see little future in software development. I enjoy programming to an extent, but it is certainly more mentally taxing then IT. I would say if you want a future, go software development, but if i you a fun, hands on job, go IT.