• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
programming forums Java Mobile Certification Databases Caching Books Engineering Micro Controllers OS Languages Paradigms IDEs Build Tools Frameworks Application Servers Open Source This Site Careers Other Pie Elite all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
Marshals:
  • Campbell Ritchie
  • Jeanne Boyarsky
  • Ron McLeod
  • Paul Clapham
  • Liutauras Vilda
Sheriffs:
  • paul wheaton
  • Rob Spoor
  • Devaka Cooray
Saloon Keepers:
  • Stephan van Hulst
  • Tim Holloway
  • Carey Brown
  • Frits Walraven
  • Tim Moores
Bartenders:
  • Mikalai Zaikin

Counting Experience

 
Ranch Hand
Posts: 341
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Hi !

Sometimes I get confused while counting my total work experience. So here is a question.

Suppose that I work full time for a company (day job) and I also work part time for a company (night job). I keep on doing this for a period of one year.
After one year how muck experience do I have ? 1 year or 2 years or 1.5 years ?

Danish
 
Ranch Hand
Posts: 425
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Danish,

What I feel is your experience will remain One(1) year but you can allways specify that U have worked for two companies at the same time and that too in two different shifts.

Thanks,
Rahul Juneja
 
Ranch Hand
Posts: 1400
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Originally posted by Rahul Juneja:
Danish,

What I feel is your experience will remain One(1) year but you can allways specify that U have worked for two companies at the same time and that too in two different shifts.

Thanks,
Rahul Juneja



And for 3 years if I work on an average 1 hr per day, will I be having 3 yrs of experience?
 
Ranch Hand
Posts: 469
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I have similar question, do TA and internships count as experience?
Noone takes my summer, part-time internships and TA to count. even though that's where I learned everything.
I always thought it counts, so I would count 1 year of 20hrs/week internship or TA as 1/2 year of experience.
 
Ranch Hand
Posts: 309
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Originally posted by Rita Moore:
I have similar question, do TA and internships count as experience?
Noone takes my summer, part-time internships and TA to count. even though that's where I learned everything.
I always thought it counts, so I would count 1 year of 20hrs/week internship or TA as 1/2 year of experience.



IMO, we have to list them(full time, internships, RA/TA) separately in our resume. When a position demands X years of experience, it definitely means X years of full time experience in the industry.... But since internships are full-time experiences in the industry, I guess they can be included in X. So if you are applying for a position that demands 2 yrs. of experience and you have 1.5 yrs of experience + 6 months of internship, you can still apply but clearly mention it in your resume to avoid any confusion in the future. I really doubt if RA/TA (something done in an academic setting) can be counted as experience.....

Regards.
[ August 25, 2004: Message edited by: shankar vembu ]
 
Ranch Hand
Posts: 169
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
In the United States of America (I don't know about other countries such as India), "Years of Experience" in software industry only include the number of years spent in full-time paid job after graduation.

This excludes all the internship, part-time job, college co-op, TA, courseworks, research with professor, college project, self-study and any other non-paid jobs.

I've seen so many job candidates lying/exaggerating their years of experience.

Any works you did while you were a student (i.e. while pursuing Bachelor's or Master's degree) cannot be counted toward the "years of professional experience". There's exception; if you're pursuing a research/academic career and working on Ph.D - then it's a different story.

This makes sense because in the United States, almost 100% of all "Software Developer" positions require Bachelor's degree at the minimum.

My advice is not to lie/exaggerate your work experience.



Suppose that I work full time for a company (day job) and I also work part time for a company (night job). I keep on doing this for a period of one year.
After one year how muck experience do I have ? 1 year or 2 years or 1.5 years ?



Answer: 1 year


And for 3 years if I work on an average 1 hr per day, will I be having 3 yrs of experience?



Answer: 0 year in this case
[ August 25, 2004: Message edited by: Jay Shin ]
 
shankar vembu
Ranch Hand
Posts: 309
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Originally posted by Jay Shin:

There's exception; if you're pursuing a research/academic career and working on Ph.D - then it's a different story.
[ August 25, 2004: Message edited by: Jay Shin ]


Could you elaborate on this one ?

Regards
 
Jay Shin
Ranch Hand
Posts: 169
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Originally posted by shankar vembu:

Could you elaborate on this one ?




It's almost always those recent college graduates (or graduating seniors) who get confused about the "Years of Experience".

If you've just graduated and received your Bachelor's degree, then no matter how much internship/TA/college projects/research experience you've had, you have ZERO years of experience.

I know these are invaluable learning experience for students (and often, your starting salary is determined by how much internship experience you've had), but you have to clearly indicate on your resume what you did.

I've seen some recent college graduates alleging that he has 3 years of experience (only because he started taking programming classes in his Sophomore year)

But for Ph.D, it's quite different. If you've got a Ph.D, you'd be intereted in research/academic position so the traditional notion of "Years of Experience" doesn't quite fit well.

Suppose you've got a Ph.D and you're looking for just regular Software Developer position (instead of research/academic one), well, then technically you'd have zero years of experience also, but I believe most corporations will value your Ph.D works. Or, if you work full-time in industry while simultaneously working on your Ph.D thesis, yes in this case it's safe to say these are counted toward "years of experience".
[ August 25, 2004: Message edited by: Jay Shin ]
 
Sania Marsh
Ranch Hand
Posts: 469
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Do employers really care if one has a BS or MS?
Does the salary really differ? If yes, how?
I feel like I've waisted 3 years doing MS, when I could gain some experience
 
Jay Shin
Ranch Hand
Posts: 169
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Originally posted by Rita Moore:
Do employers really care if one has a BS or MS?
Does the salary really differ? If yes, how?
I feel like I've waisted 3 years doing MS, when I could gain some experience




It all depends on what kind of M.S you got and how much experience you've had before getting the M.S degree.

Normally, most developers who're not interested in pursuing an academic career do the part-time M.S while still working full-time in industry (usually their employer sponsor this and pay the tuition).

And yes, if you're serious about gaining stronger academic background, you can opt for full-time M.S paying your own tuition.

I've seen people going for M.S straight from B.S without having any industry experience. Yes, in this case their starting salary is slightly higher - based on my observation they're getting about $5K - $10K more.
 
Tell me how it all turns out. Here is a tiny ad:
a bit of art, as a gift, the permaculture playing cards
https://gardener-gift.com
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic