- #1
jgg
- 40
- 0
This semester I decided to finish off high school with a work experience class, in lieu of another AP class (by that I mean there were none left to take, except virtual classes). I started making calls, and long story short a large software company (which I will not name) took a look at my scores and skills and decided that I would not only qualify for work experience, but that more "opportunities" could open up in the future (apparently all it takes to impress people towards the point of liking you is a flashy piece of paper with nice test scores on it...pathetic).
Sound great, but there are two problems I have with this company:
1. A lot of the software made by this company goes into tracking criminals, evidence, soldiers, weapons, etc. Call me an idealist, but this bothers me. You know how people will sometimes call certain places a 'database state'? This company is one of those groups fostering that exact idea. Yikes.
2. The second, and most daunting reason came in a recent phone conversation before setting up my first meeting with them. They basically told me that to continue impressing them, I would not only have to learn quite a bit, but would have to make contributions to their software. I'm afraid this is going to digress into a situation where I'll end up being free labor that they can treat like ****, always promising me that great 'paid-position' during the summer. They use ASP, VBscript, Java, .Net and MS SQL 2000/2005, which oddly are all languages I have avoided learning (except for Java...just haven't had time on for that one). Granted, I know languages similar to those, but I wonder if this will be enough.
Note that I have probably a dozen other contacts for this, and there are four in particular that all look just as positive, and one has made mention of a paid position. I'm not sure why I'm drawn to this company so much. Maybe it's just hype.
Any advice?
Sound great, but there are two problems I have with this company:
1. A lot of the software made by this company goes into tracking criminals, evidence, soldiers, weapons, etc. Call me an idealist, but this bothers me. You know how people will sometimes call certain places a 'database state'? This company is one of those groups fostering that exact idea. Yikes.
2. The second, and most daunting reason came in a recent phone conversation before setting up my first meeting with them. They basically told me that to continue impressing them, I would not only have to learn quite a bit, but would have to make contributions to their software. I'm afraid this is going to digress into a situation where I'll end up being free labor that they can treat like ****, always promising me that great 'paid-position' during the summer. They use ASP, VBscript, Java, .Net and MS SQL 2000/2005, which oddly are all languages I have avoided learning (except for Java...just haven't had time on for that one). Granted, I know languages similar to those, but I wonder if this will be enough.
Note that I have probably a dozen other contacts for this, and there are four in particular that all look just as positive, and one has made mention of a paid position. I'm not sure why I'm drawn to this company so much. Maybe it's just hype.
Any advice?