This blog is a collection of the various assignments for Step 1 of the Employment Project. Included are the Job Search Activity, copies of the job ads I am interested in, and an analysis of the ads, specifically the Amazon internship I will pursue.

 

Job Search Activity 12-1 

1) The only work experience I have is my own computer content creation company. I was the owner, I forget the name of the company I gave it (this was in high school) but it was something stupid like Kenan's Computer Service. It wasn't that much work, I just made websites, PowerPoints, did some computer repairs, and small stuff like that. Dates of employment were approximately 2001-2003.

2) Yes, I used to be a volunteer at Wishard Memorial Hospital in Indianpolis in 2005. My supervisor was some lady that I had to check in with every time. I had to do things like clean patients' carts, talk to patients, and some secretarial work .

3) I have interned with Eli Lilly in Indianapolis during Summer 2006. My supervisor was Amr Shokry, an Eli Lilly employee in Human Resources. The internship gave an idea of how a business runs, and we did various computer simulations with a computer and it explained R&D, Marketing, and the other segments of a company like Eli Lilly.

4) I have taken CS291 and now CS391. Those classes provide oppurtunities for people from the CS industry to come and explain what their company does, and gives a chance for students to ask questions or find out more about a company they may be interested in. I was also on an EPICS team that taught me about managing large code bases.

5) I have received scholarships for academic distinction in high school. There isn't much to describe that I would be comfortable writing about.

6) I am pretty good at writing computer programs, coming up with ideas that could capitalize on computer programming, and testing computer software for bugs and improvements. I'm not sure that I rise above the ordinary, but that is what I like to do. I am also pretty good at arguing a point I care about. I am pretty good at card tricks, too. I hope someday to go into a field that is not solely software development, like Microsoft, but where I can use those skills as an extra asset.

7) I speak Arabic and some French in addition to English. I am pretty good at working with Arabs or people from the Indian subcontinent. I feel I can get along with almost any type of person though.

8 ) I can use any Office program, but I enjoy improving programs more than using them. I can write in Java, C/C++, C#, VB, and I am trying to learn PHP in my free time.

9) In an echo of everything here, I can work with electronics and computers. I can't really do much with the actual electronic component hardware, but I can usually figure out what needs to be fixed, and get a replacement for that part.

 

Job Ads

Google Software Engineer - New Grad – North America Locations

Positions available in Boston (MA), Boulder (CO), Chicago (IL), Irvine (CA), Kirkland/Seattle (WA), Mountain View (CA), New York (NY), Phoenix, (AZ), Pittsburgh (PA), Santa Monica (CA), and Waterloo (ON).

The area: Software Engineering
Google's Software Engineers develop the next-generation technologies for which we've become world-renowned. In addition to revolutionizing search technology, we're applying our world-class programming skills to create innovative applications to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. The projects we work on include transaction processing, mapping, image processing, machine learning, distributed systems and scalability, and client-side applications dealing with mobile, television and video. Collaborating in small, agile teams, we do rapid development work – producing an environment that combines the invigorating feel of a startup company with the resources and stability of a healthy, established business.

The role: Software Engineer - New Grad
Software Engineers at Google are developers who yearn to create and implement full product lifecycles – not just code solutions. This means you need to have a solid foundation in computer science, you consistently come up with new ideas and you would naturally strive for a deep understanding of your products in order to be able to continually improve upon them. With the bigger picture in mind, you will seek to code elegant systems. Our teams develop massively scalable, distributed software systems and also collaborate on multitudes of smaller projects that have universal appeal – which requires research, awareness, interactivity and asking questions. You bring strong competencies in data structures and algorithms, along with a technical fascination for how stuff fits together. You're motivated to experiment and take chances in order to make a difference in your field, unafraid to stand up for your ideas and eager to embrace change.

Responsibilities
• Research, conceive and develop software applications to extend and improve on Google's product offering
• Contribute to a wide variety of projects utilizing natural language processing, artificial intelligence, data compression, machine learning and search technologies
• Collaborate on scalability issues involving access to massive amounts of data and information
• Solve all problems that come your way

Requirements
• BS or MS degree in computer science or related technical field (a PhD is a plus)
• Experience with UNIX/Linux or Windows environments, distributed systems, machine learning, information retrieval and TCP/IP
• Extensive experience programming in C, C++, Java and/or Python
• Experience in network programming and/or developing/designing large software systems

Amazon.com

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Division:

N/A

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Title:

Software Development Intern

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Description:

Have a direct impact on the evolution of Amazon eCommerce platform and lead mission critical projects early in your career! At Amazon you will design, code, and contribute to solving some of the most complex technical challenges in the areas of Platform, Applications, Operations, Retail, Transaction Systems, and Merchants!

Software Development Engineer:

• Strong, object-oriented design and coding skills (C/C++ and/or Java preferably on a
UNIX or Linux platform)
• Knowledge of Perl or other scripting languages a plus
• Experience with distributed (multi-tiered) systems, algorithms, and relational databases
• Experience in optimization mathematics (linear programming, nonlinear optimization)
• Ability to effectively articulate technical challenges and solutions
• Deal well with ambiguous/undefined problems; ability to think abstractly
• Computer Science/Computer Engineering degree (or related technical discipline)
• Previous technical internship preferred
• Graduate degree a plus

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Location:

Seattle, Washington

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Position Type:

Internship / Co-op, Summer, Paid

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Work Authorization:

US Citizen, US Permanent Resident, Student (F-1) Visa, Employment (H-1B) Visa, TN-1, Other

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Job Function:

Software Design & Development En

I am picking the Amazon ad because it is for an internship which would be more suitable for me.

Job Ad Reflection

1. Why did you choose this job ad? Do you feel that you are qualified for the position?

The qualifications for the job are exactly tailored to my experiences and education. I have developed object-oriented programming skills, and am quite fluent at C/C++ and Java, with most of my development coming from a UNIX or Linux platform. Unfortunately I do not have Perl knowledge, but I do know some PHP which can help. I am currently enrolled in a Relational Databases class, so hopefully by the time the internship comes around I can be quite apt with databases and multi-tiered systems. I am also taking an algorithms class so that seems to be exactly what Amazon is looking for. I could improve on my articulation of technical solutions. Although I can implement them well, describing them for me is a challenge. I do not have any previous internships or graduate degrees, so although they are preferred, I will have to rely more on my other qualifications.

 

2. How long has the ad been posted? If it has been posted for a long period of time, are you sure that the position is still available? How? (short answer)

Posted 12/28/2007. The position is still available, and applications will be accepted until 02/10/2008. This information is from CCO Express. 

 

3. Where is the company located? Are you willing to move if it is out of state or in a foreign country? (short answer)

The company has many locations, but most interns end up in Seattle. I would be fine going to Seattle for the summer. 

 

4. Why is living in the area that the company is located appealing to you? (paragraph)

I am not sure that Seattle is appealing to me, but there are many reasons it is nice. First, there are many other technical companies, including Google and Microsoft. So if for some reason I decide to transfer to one of those companies, it's not a far move. Also, Seattle is much bigger than West Lafayette, so that is a huge plus. The weather in Seattle is not as cold as Indiana, although Seattle has lots of rain and is pretty weird when it comes to weather in general. Also, areas like Bellevue where there are lots of technical corporations have developed and are very high tech communities. 

 

Job Ad Analysis

1. What skills is your prospective employer seeking, from most important to least important? (list)

• Strong, object-oriented design and coding skills (C/C++ and/or Java preferably on a
UNIX or Linux platform)
• Knowledge of Perl or other scripting languages a plus
• Experience with distributed (multi-tiered) systems, algorithms, and relational databases
• Experience in optimization mathematics (linear programming, nonlinear optimization)
• Ability to effectively articulate technical challenges and solutions
• Deal well with ambiguous/undefined problems; ability to think abstractly
• Computer Science/Computer Engineering degree (or related technical discipline)
• Previous technical internship preferred
• Graduate degree a plus

2. What exceptional skills do you have that prove you to be invaluable to this company or organization? Remember that your resume is not a record of what you’ve done, but a persuasive document that proves indisputably that you are the best person for the job. (list)

- Good GPA in many technical classes

- Experience with a large code base and working on a team (EPICS)

- Very proficient in C, C++, and Java

- Work well with other people

3. As an exercise, list the skills, professional experience, personality traits, etc., the job ad is asking for in the left column, and in the right, write paragraphs that elaborate on and illustrate your skills, experience, etc.

Your prospective employer (list)
You (paragraphs)

Ability to effectively articulate technical challenges and solutions
In EPICS, we had a Java code base that was several thousand lines of code, and we had many technical challenges in fixing some bad code. A lot of time was spent discussing technical challenges as a team and solving them. Articulating these solutions effectively was critical to getting our goals finished on time.

C/C++, object oriented programming experience 
I have taken many very programming-intensive classes. Some of these classes include CS180, CS240, CS251, and CS250. I got an A in all of these classes. Some projects I have worked on include simulations of various ecosystems with many animals of different specifications in Java, a spell-checker that inputs a file into a custom linked list class and outputs incorrectly spelled words also in Java, Web-server with basic HEAD, GET functionality as well as redirection and MIME support in C, and a bitmap manipulator with flip, rotate, resize, grayscale, and invert capability in C.

Experience with distributed (multi-tiered) systems, algorithms, and relational databases

 Our EPICS project involved multi-tiered systems. We had some Windows Server 2003 machines and some Apache servers. Our front-end communicated with the database via a C# webservice which filtered out all bogus requests to the database. Our SQL database managed all of the data in the project. I am currently enrolled in an Algorithms class, so hopefully I can be proficient in fast algorithms by the time of the internship.

 Computer Science/Computer Engineering degree (or related technical discipline)
 I am getting a BS in Computer Science at Purdue, so this certainly meets the qualifications for the educational requirements of the internship. Also, I have a pretty high GPA so this should also support my educational sufficiency.

 Deal well with ambiguous/undefined problems; ability to think abstractly
 I have taken a Discrete Math class and hope that I am pretty good at thinking abstractly and solving undefined problems. I have good deductive skills so I can think about ambiguous problems much the same way as defined ones.

History of the Company / Organization

1. Did you know anything about the company before you saw the job ad? (short answer)

Yes, most people have purchased something from Amazon before. I know quite a bit about the e-commerce that Amazon is involved with, and the little-known Amazon marketplace. Also, I think the Amazon Kindle is an amazing device.

2. Does the company have a website? What is the URL? (short answer)

www.amazon.com

3. What is the mission statement of the company? (paragraph)

"Our vision is to be earth's most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online."

4. What are keywords on the website that you can use in your cover letter and interview? (list)

eCommerce platform, lead mission critical projects, most complex technical, challenges, Platform, Applications, Operations, Retail, Transaction Systems, and Merchants.

5. Write a few sentences about the history of the company. Remember that it is essential for you to learn as much about the company as possible; you can use such knowledge for your cover letter and interview. (paragraph)

Amazon.com popularized online shopping, and is a name synonymous with e-commerce much like ebay. The company started as an online bookstore, which was a reasonable enough idea because most bookstores could only provide hundreds of thousands of books, even with phone order capabilites, but an online bookstore could offer more. Amazon remained non-profitable until 2002, although it was incorporated in 1994, and this helped it survive the .com bubble burst. Revenue in 2006 was 10.6 billion dollars.

6. Based on your research, what is your personal sense about the company? What do you feel the company values? (paragraph)

I have heard only good things about work environment at Amazon. I think that Amazon's values, and its mission to push ecommerce and make online shopping an integral part of the 21st century is important. Amazon strives to offer its employees competitive benefits and salaries, so it could be somewhere I would like to work. An internship at Amazon can only do good things to further my career, even if I do not take a job at Amazon. 

7. Does Purdue’s Center for Career Opportunities have a networking system with this company? (short answer)

 Yes, the offer was found on CCO. Amazon is a premier partner of the Purdue CS department.

8. Do you have any personal connections to this company? Do you know anyone who works there? Does anyone in your family or friends of your family work there? (short answer)

I know a senior in CS that interned there and may accept a job there. I do not have any family that works there.