

Work for free in exchange for experience. - onktak

Am a 3rd year student in Australia studying computer systems and would like to gain some programming experience preferably under the supervision of an experienced programmer. Am competent in c and java. I would like to gain solid skills before i graduate and i think working under the guidance of someone experienced could accelerate that process. I would work completely for free to gain some more experience and maybe a reference.
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orev
Don't sell yourself short. With knowing a few languages there's no reason why
you can't get an entry-level programming job that you can get paid to do.
You'll get experience and you'll get paid. Giving it away for free doesn't
necessarily sweeten the pot.

The real trick is going to be finding a place where you will have a good
mentor. You might be surprised to know that many programmers who are employed
are not very good at programming even though they get paid for it. You don't
want to be learning from someone like that.

Another option might be to talk to some of your professors at school. They
might have their own projects going, or know someone who does. They would also
better know people who might be good mentors.

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onktak
I will start off with that to see if i can get anything.I have tried getting
part time entry level programming jobs but they require me to do uni part time
which i cannot do since am international student and have to be full time.
Yesterday i went to a career fair hoping to find some companies that take in
international students as interns but very few do. So i thought this might be
the best place to ask for best places to get that experience.

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gte910h
You need to put a email address in the profile notes section of your profile.
I was going to send you an email to ask you a few questions.

While it's illegal to not pay someone for useful work in my country (US), if
you were a match I'd look into internships and paying intern wages once you
showed any capacity to do work we could use after bringing you up to bare
competence via starter projects.

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silverlake
There are tons of unpaid internships in the US. It's not illegal at all.

~~~
gte910h
You would be mistaken. You can be sued for back wages and be fined if you
screw up there. Here is the applicable publication from the national
department of labor.

From: <http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/flsa/scope/er15.asp>

\--

If all of the following criteria apply, the trainees or students are not
employees within the meaning of the Act:

The training, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of
the employer, is similar to that which would be given in a vocational school;

The training is for the benefit of the trainees or students;

The trainees or students do not displace regular employees, but work under
close supervision;

The employer that provides the training receives no immediate advantage from
the activities of the trainees or students and, on occasion, his operations
may even be impeded;

The trainees or students are not necessarily entitled to a job at the
conclusion of the training period; and

The employer and the trainees or students understand that the trainees or
students are not entitled to wages for the time spent in training.

\--

Very few internships in the US can satisfy all of these.

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albertsun
My first reaction on reading the title is that you don't need to work for
anyone in order to work for free for experience. Just work on some project of
your own. What you want is to work for free in exchange for mentoring.

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jacquesm
Are you sure you read it ? He's got this in there (or was the text edited?)

> would like to gain some programming experience preferably under the
> supervision of an experienced programmer.

I think that describes a mentoring situation fairly accurately.

If you can find something that interests you a lot, then contact the lead
programmer on the project and see if you are welcome to stick your oar in.

Keep in mind that most people will reluctant to do this because most software
guys are under serious pressure to deliver and may not want to take on someone
that might slow them down.

If that's their worry make sure you tell them they can nix the deal without
hard feelings if they feel that's the case, that might give you an edge on the
way in.

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subud
<http://socghop.appspot.com/>

