In Search of Relevant OJT Work
I just bumped into this Ask Slashdot post about a kid inquiring about good technology OJT opportunities. His major worry is about getting a job that involves clerical, sales or non-technical related work. This is definitely a relevant worry. We have to admit that sometimes companies do not have the time and resources to invest in technically relevant OJT programs. You are actually lucky if you can find one.
After reading some of the responses, here are some ideas I think would be useful for students seriously considering getting relevant OJT work during the Summer locally.
- Find a Company that Traditionally gives relevant OJT jobs. This is probably your best bet is getting best of both work environment experience and technology exposure. Many companies offer options like this (Smart, HP, Citibank, etc …) The company I current work for currently offers such a program too (just send me a personal message if you are interested). However, companies tend to give more relevant and meaningful work to students whom they feel that do more.
- Do Academic Research. Why limit yourself to traditional OJT jobs? A number of research groups (particularly academic ones) are looking for talented young researchers. This is a nice way to getting a short cut into the bleeding edge basic research. There are a lot of professors and researchers out there who could use any extra help. I am part of one such research group and you find more information here. Although most of the takers of these projects are Ateneo students, we are not closing our doors to researchers from other schools and organizations in the spirit of academic collaboration.
- Contribute to an Open Source Project and/or Join Google’s Summer of Code Program. Contribute to the open source body of knowledge! It might also be good to look for locals who are working on open source projects. These local contributors can easily guide you. For example, the local Ubuntu community is very active and looking for volunteers. The folks at DOST-ASTI might need a hand with Bayanihan Linux (They also have an OJT program). I personally work on a number of open source projects. Currently, I maintain the TCP and SSL patch for the Asterisk Open Source PBX and many others.
The bottomline really is that there are places to go to if you really need technically relevant OJT work. The main task would be to seek these organizations and groups out. Most of the time, these people do not really advertise. But, the options available to today’s students are definitely more than a generation ago without the Internet. Now, it is up to the student to make the most out of these potential opportunities.
