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Internship gamble.
Hi,
I'm writing regarding a job offer I received to have a second paid internship at a financial management house as a signal processing system developer. I am an electrical engineering student with a 3.8GPA in Canada and simply wondering if at this point in my education if I should try to diversify my work experience by sticking out the competitive job market, or get solid in-depth knowledge in a position i enjoy and that provides ample respect and compensation.
Thanks
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I suggest that you take the second internship with the same company. In engineering, years of experience mean everything especially if you're a mature student. When you graduate, if you can list 2 years or even 3 years of internship experience in one field, it displays loyalty and trainability as well as in-depth knowledge.
There are engineers out there who say they have "10 years of experience" bouncing around from one job to another. In reality they don't have 10 years of experience, they have the same 1 year of experience repeated 10 different times. In-depth skill and understanding count for way more than diversity, because they reflect an ability to deliver the goods.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, especially in today's job market. Right now, there's a chance you may be able to leverage your current job into full-time employment after you graduate. If for some reason you try this and can't make it happen, your 3.8 GPA and your years of experience can help you generate a good offer elsewhere. If, however, you choose to diversify, you basically give up the chance of leveraging your current job into full-time employment after graduation.
You also don't know what your next internship assignment will be-- lots of companies use interns for scut work and inventory the first year and don't give out meaningful responsibilities until you've been there a while. If the financial management house has given you actual responsibilites, you are better off than most engineering interns. There's no guarantee you will actually get the diversity you're hoping for by changing internship assignments.
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It depends is the internship with in the profession you are going in? Or does it base its self around a completely different area of you profession you don't care a lot about. I say get solid in depth knowledge, but the internship could pay off more and possibly be your foot in the door.
Cspinoza1
Go indepth
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My advice probably isn't worth very much here because I don't know the extent of your previous job experience; nor do I know what kind of jobs you're likely to apply for in the future, or what qualifications they generally require. That said, "a position that you enjoy and that provides ample respect and compensation" is a rare and lovely bird indeed, so I would go for the solid in-depth knowledge. Perhaps once you are employed there, you can ask to be occasionally assigned to other projects that would stretch you.
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I think you just answered your own question. Go for the specialisation, unless you think it it will hamper your efforts to get jobs in the future.
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