biggest client was for a pharmaceutical corporation that created a famous allergy medicine. It seemed like a company that would help me get a foot in the door, so I applied for the internship.
During the interview, various employees and even the CEO of company interviewed me. The CEO said that I showed promise because of my high SAT scores and because of my perfect grade in my computer science class. But the problem he had with me was that I only knew how to code in C++ when the job requirement was for Java, a similar, but different programming language. So he told me to reapply when I knew how to code in Java.
I took him up on the offer and quickly went to the library after the interview was over. At the library, I borrowed a book that taught the basics of Java. I started reading it as though I had an exam on the matter the next day. After reading the book for many hours straight, I decided that I knew enough about Java to reapply for the job. So I called up the CEO of the company the next day and told him that I learned Java and would like a second chance at the internship. He was curious, so he granted me that second chance.
During the second interview, they asked me a few basic questions about Java, and I knew the answers. However, as the interview went on, the questions got more advanced, and I didn’t know the answers. I tried to answer them in the best way that I could, but they weren’t the right answers.
After the interview was over, the CEO said, “You didn’t answer all of the interview questions correctly. Next time, just say that you don’t know the answer instead of giving a bad answer. It’s okay to not know the answers sometimes. What intrigued me the most about you was that I told you to come back when you knew Java, and you actually went out and tried to learn Java. You didn’t wait a year or a month or even a week to start learning. You went out and tried it immediately. You may not be the best Java coder we interviewed, but you definitely have the attitude that I would like to see in my employees. I’m going to accept you for the internship. But I want you to review those Java books some more.”
And that was when I got my first job at a tech company.
The learning curve at the company was very steep. I had to learn new technologies, such as Apache, SOAP, REST, Java, Linux, JavaScript, UNIX, and VI, at the internship. Since the other employees were busy with their own work, they only told me what to learn without actually teaching me anything. I had to learn everything on my own.
It was all overwhelming at first, but the challenge of it all was what kept me pushing to learn more. I was basically learning college level material while I was interning there. One of the employees told me that spending a month there was equal to spending a semester in college.
All of the technologies I learned at the internship would later prove useful when I had a web development course in college, and when I was interviewed for tech jobs. Although the steep learning curve would have deterred most people from wanting to move forward and learn more, it ultimately benefited me. I stood out during my college applications and during my job interviews.
One of the major differences between humans and animals is that we can share knowledge easily and learn things faster than animals can. Why should we throw this talent away? Educate yourself beyond what is expected of you, and you will be rewarded in the long run.
“Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.”
– Winston Churchill
8 Ugly World
From all of the bullies and gangsters at my school, I already knew how ugly the world was out there. It was pretty much a dog eat dog world. It seemed like almost every day there was someone trying to scam you.
I was even scammed by an older classmate when I was in the first grade. Back then, I used to make and sell paper ninja stars for a dime each. None
During the interview, various employees and even the CEO of company interviewed me. The CEO said that I showed promise because of my high SAT scores and because of my perfect grade in my computer science class. But the problem he had with me was that I only knew how to code in C++ when the job requirement was for Java, a similar, but different programming language. So he told me to reapply when I knew how to code in Java.
I took him up on the offer and quickly went to the library after the interview was over. At the library, I borrowed a book that taught the basics of Java. I started reading it as though I had an exam on the matter the next day. After reading the book for many hours straight, I decided that I knew enough about Java to reapply for the job. So I called up the CEO of the company the next day and told him that I learned Java and would like a second chance at the internship. He was curious, so he granted me that second chance.
During the second interview, they asked me a few basic questions about Java, and I knew the answers. However, as the interview went on, the questions got more advanced, and I didn’t know the answers. I tried to answer them in the best way that I could, but they weren’t the right answers.
After the interview was over, the CEO said, “You didn’t answer all of the interview questions correctly. Next time, just say that you don’t know the answer instead of giving a bad answer. It’s okay to not know the answers sometimes. What intrigued me the most about you was that I told you to come back when you knew Java, and you actually went out and tried to learn Java. You didn’t wait a year or a month or even a week to start learning. You went out and tried it immediately. You may not be the best Java coder we interviewed, but you definitely have the attitude that I would like to see in my employees. I’m going to accept you for the internship. But I want you to review those Java books some more.”
And that was when I got my first job at a tech company.
The learning curve at the company was very steep. I had to learn new technologies, such as Apache, SOAP, REST, Java, Linux, JavaScript, UNIX, and VI, at the internship. Since the other employees were busy with their own work, they only told me what to learn without actually teaching me anything. I had to learn everything on my own.
It was all overwhelming at first, but the challenge of it all was what kept me pushing to learn more. I was basically learning college level material while I was interning there. One of the employees told me that spending a month there was equal to spending a semester in college.
All of the technologies I learned at the internship would later prove useful when I had a web development course in college, and when I was interviewed for tech jobs. Although the steep learning curve would have deterred most people from wanting to move forward and learn more, it ultimately benefited me. I stood out during my college applications and during my job interviews.
One of the major differences between humans and animals is that we can share knowledge easily and learn things faster than animals can. Why should we throw this talent away? Educate yourself beyond what is expected of you, and you will be rewarded in the long run.
“Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.”
– Winston Churchill
8 Ugly World
From all of the bullies and gangsters at my school, I already knew how ugly the world was out there. It was pretty much a dog eat dog world. It seemed like almost every day there was someone trying to scam you.
I was even scammed by an older classmate when I was in the first grade. Back then, I used to make and sell paper ninja stars for a dime each. None
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