Book smart but not on the job smart: Struggling on my first internship, any advice?

[boomerang]

Old timers get a hard time here too.

Some pay extra for that....

Very true, very true.

 

[Jeff7]

Does your supervisor think you're doing ok? I constantly felt like an idiot during college. It was nothing like high school for me.
High school academics were easy. So much of it was simple memorization of materials so that it could be duplicated accurately on a standardized test, and many homework assignments could be fired off pretty quickly.
Freshman year at college took some adjustment. University coursework took a great deal of time, and tests typically demanded that you did truly know what you were talking about. (Homework was often those infamous ones where you "only" have 3 problems to work on, but each one may take 4 hours.) Some courses allotted a full 3hr lab period to a test. Even open-book/open-notes tests would not be doable unless you already had a good grasp of what you were doing. Engineering also doesn't usually carry a reputation for being an easy field of study.

On the job: A few years after working at the same place, I would still encounter things that made me feel a bit stupid. Some of that can be your own standards, and where they lie relative to how you're actually performing.

But if a manager or mentor there thinks you're falling behind expectations...well, then you will need to figure out what to do about that.


"Rising junior" - probably came off bad because it's similar to the more common term "rising star," which does imply an air of "I'm so awesome you can't possibly handle it."

Old timers get a hard time here too.

Some pay extra for that....

No, just you.

 

[rudeguy]

No, just you.

 

[Markbnj]

You're not a special snowflake "rising junior CS major"

Lol. What makes someone a "rising junior CS major" anyway? I think the correct technical term is "student," which of course is formally defined as "someone for whom an actual business has no practical use."

 

[rudeguy]

Lol. What makes someone a "rising junior CS major" anyway? I think the correct technical term is "student," which of course is formally defined as "someone for whom an actual business has no practical use."

One of the businesses we run is a charity. Its not a huge charity but it does put together some big events and takes in a decent amount of cash. The charity has no employees. The day to day stuff is all done by interns. They learn every part of running a business, get to attend some pretty cool events and meet some important people. They are always college kids who want to gain some experience. When they come in they are always quiet, afraid of the world, damn near useless masses of chair filling skin. By the time they leave they can organize large amounts of people, handle accounting tasks, handle logistics, communicate on many different levels with different kinds of people, but most importantly they are so confident in themselves that they believe they are ready to run Google.

 

[zinfamous]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the term "rising junior". It's a standard and very widely used term in higher education to describe a student who has finished their sophomore year and will be a junior for the next semester. So the person is "rising" to the Junior year of courses/status. The people poking fun at it are just clueless.

this. It's a very common term, so no idea why some here have a problem with it. Though, I've worked in academic research settings since forever, so maybe it's more common to those that are regularly exposed to undergrads?

 

[Markbnj]

One of the businesses we run is a charity. Its not a huge charity but it does put together some big events and takes in a decent amount of cash. The charity has no employees. The day to day stuff is all done by interns. They learn every part of running a business, get to attend some pretty cool events and meet some important people. They are always college kids who want to gain some experience. When they come in they are always quiet, afraid of the world, damn near useless masses of chair filling skin. By the time they leave they can organize large amounts of people, handle accounting tasks, handle logistics, communicate on many different levels with different kinds of people, but most importantly they are so confident in themselves that they believe they are ready to run Google.

Yeah this isn't uncommon, and I was being too hard on students, but "rising junior CS major" was too good to pass up.

 

[rudeguy]

Yeah this isn't uncommon, and I was being too hard on students, but "rising junior CS major" was too good to pass up.

I really thought he meant rising as in rising star or something. Turns out I'm just ignorant!

 

[JM Aggie08]

Are they not offering some sort of on-boarding or on the job training?

 

[Ns1]

I really thought he meant rising as in rising star or something. Turns out I'm just ignorant!

lol me too. but seriously, who the fuck says rising junior.

Rising senior genrally means that the person in queston is in between designations, but that senior will be the next applicable one. If I was a junior in the 2010–2011 academic year and will be a senior in the 2011–2012 academic year, then right now (summer 2011), I am a rising senior

 

[Drako]

lol me too. but seriously, who the fuck says rising junior.

Me as well, but I'm and old fart.

Are there "falling juniors" and "stagnant juniors" as well?

 

[LevelSea]

CS major here. I don't think the OP's situation in uncommon at all. I graduated with several people who could knock out proofs on DFA, NFA, CFGs, etc, but couldn't program their way out of a wet paper bag.

 

[rudeguy]

Me as well, but I'm and old fart.

Are there "falling juniors" and "stagnant juniors" as well?

I got this.

Incoming thread!

 

[Imp]

Ok I'm sorry that I vented out. But seriously, is there something wrong with the term "rising junior"? I never thought the term is antyhing other than just a short hand way to describe "finished sophomore year, entering junior year" and has a completely neutral connotation.

"Rising junior" sounds like you think you are a "rising star" and better than most other people. The internet's job is to bring you down to the level of the mob...

Meh on the job. I've gotten shit for things like forgetting the exact procedure on how to fill out and file a form I've never done before, or maybe I've done once 5 months ago. You mean I need time, frequent repetition, and experience to get better?

 

[Markbnj]

lol me too. but seriously, who the fuck says rising junior.

This is ATOT, so I feel no obligation to educate myself before mocking whatever I wish.

And one of the things I always wish to mock is CS students. That's just the way it works. The strong will persevere. The others have careers waiting for them in the hospitality industry.

 

[brainhulk]

Rising junior eh?

 

[rudeguy]

anyone else legit feel bad for flaming the OP?

 

[Markbnj]

anyone else legit feel bad for flaming the OP?

No. I do feel bad, but it is not legit.

 

[rudeguy]

No. I do feel bad, but it is not legit.

MC Hammer is disappoint

 

[JEDI]

No. I do feel bad, but it is not legit.

yeah, read that as rising star as well.

what country uses the term rising junior ?

 

[edro]

You guys are idiots for thinking he was bragging about being a rising star.
It didn't even cross your mind that he meant "between junior and senior year?"

Anyway, don't worry... it's stressful at your first real job (or internship).
Many of the best workers aren't very flexible; they just know how to do limited tasks well, the way the company has done for years.

Once you settle in, you will be fine.

 

[zinfamous]

yeah, read that as rising star as well.

what country uses the term rising junior ?

the USA

 

[Ns1]

the USA

not in my 'murica!

 

[Belegost]

On topic: I think it's been said but, study up on your off hours. I would suggest before the end of each day to spend 15 mins or so writing up a list of what you need to be able to accomplish the next day, identify which tasks you're not sure how to do and then spend time in the evening researching on those things.

It helps if the situation is one where you have a laptop or can VPN into your workstation remotely, but even if not, just spending time learning the general things around what you're working on will help.

 

[Murloc]

I had never heard about that expression before either, and the first impression was that maybe he meant he was a rising star among junior CSs, but the fact that English isn't my native language humbled me and made me think that maybe it's a weird expression I've never seen before.

I've seen this on another forum too: indians go on there and write "fresher" and are immediately jumped on by native speakers for not being clear, while it takes a few seconds in google to get it, or you can guess from the context.

tl;dr MY ENGLISH IS THE RIGHT ENGLISH