

Advice to software development interns - tjr
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2015/06/19/advice-to-software-development-interns/

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RogerL
The person was an 18 years old intern. Its your job to teach them, not let
them do all this and then complain publicly about it. Internship is not cheap
labor; it's a mutual relationship where you help train the next generation
because either you are nice or because you realize that if you don't do it
there will not be a pool of experienced applicants to choose from. Ask "what
can I do for this intern" \- if they do something for you as well, great! If
not, it's still okay.

And, no, you don't own my life, and there is more to it than arranging bits so
you can get rich off my labor. There is no need to structure jobs such that
our lives and relationships are destroyed.

~~~
joezydeco
Oh come on. Read that article again.

 _" He had taken AP Computer Science, a Python programming course in high
school, and Harvard’s CS50...In addition to this academic training he arrived
with a vast expertise on building Windows-based PCs, especially for gaming."_

So we know this kid has had some previous experience. You make certain
assumptions that he knows his way around a PC, especially if he's building
gaming rigs. Not something you learn in a vacuum. Oh yeah, and he _got
admitted to Harvard University_. But then:

 _" use Google and Web-based resources before interrupting the person who
hired you, e.g., if you want to know how to do something in Emacs for which
crib sheets are readily available on the Web and can be printed out"_

So yeah, Phil is complaining here but I think he's right. If I went through
the trouble of screening and bringing on someone that gave the _impression of
competency_ , then shouldn't he know how to solve the small problems by
himself? Phil is red-flagging himself that this intern is just going to be a
time sink rather than a help. He's also lamenting that kids that get into
Harvard are lacking some of the self-sufficiency tools that are key to a
successful college and post-collegiate career.

~~~
aaggarwal
The title is misleading though, it's more like reproach in poor spirit rather
than advice.

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aerovistae
Was this published with the intern's permission?? I have a hard time upvoting
this when it's kind of derogatory and personal. It doesn't come across as
"advice" so much as complaining about an employee.

~~~
brodney
It reads to me like a self important rant. I don't know what the author tried
to do to resolve these issues, but the tone of the article doesn't make me
optimistic.

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agounaris
The author should also learn that hiring a 18y old "kid" means also that this
person is in need of mentoring first! This guy hired an intern and he expected
him to act like an actual productive employee.

(since when interns should learn to edit with emacs?)

~~~
shiggerino
I don't see a problem with having interns learn Emacs, but he should probably
look into a better version control and deployment strategy than editing files
on the server.

~~~
tjr
Knowing a bit about Philip's methodology, that statement was not necessarily
referring to editing text on the live web server, but more likely just
referring to SSH'ing into a Unix system to do development work.

~~~
shiggerino
That's still a strange way to work compared to using a DVCS or even checking
out with old-fashioned SVN or CVS.

I also hope they didn't use the crippled console version of Emacs, but made
use of TRAMP.

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quadyeast
"The most effective developers simply won’t quit until a problem is solved.
One reason I think programmers often stay up until 2 or 3 am is that it
bothers us if something isn’t working. So we keep at it until we collapse."

I've learned that this is not an effective way to tackle hard problems. Take a
break, go to bed, take a walk.

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k-mcgrady
I don't think the OP understands what an intern is. Sounds like he just wanted
to hire a someone for cheap and thought this was a good way to do it.

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lewisl9029
Speaking as someone who has done internships for 7 different companies (we
call them co-ops here in Canada), perhaps this feedback would have been more
valuable for both parties if it was disclosed to the intern privately _during_
his work term as he was making these mistakes.

Many of the social/workplace norms you might take for granted in a new hire
are definitely not obvious for someone entering the workforce _for the first
time in his life_.

Speaking from personal experience, a bit of patience, empathy and well-meaning
advice would benefit these junior developers much more than ranting on a
public medium with a tone that's obviously full of bitterness and spite. You
will also end up getting a much better employee in the process, both during
the work term as he improves his behavior as well as in the future when he may
return to work for you full time.

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clueless123
As I understand it, an internship is supposed to be a mutually beneficial
arrangement where the intern gets valuable experience and the employer gets
cheap labor, and a chance to try a potential future employee.

Maybe the intern had different expectations of what he/she was getting out of
the deal. (I have a hard time thinking that a (not CS major) Harvard student
objective is to become a "software developer")

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cosmolev
So, where can we read "Advice to software development employers who hire 18yo
interns"?

btw, I would have never hired 18yo me

