Tom Castellani, computer science major from the class of summer 2009, worked as a programming intern for MATRIX, MSU’s Center for Humane Arts, Letters, and Social Sciences Online here in East Lansing. His for-credit internship lasted from December 2008 to May 2009, and he ended up working there this past summer. We interviewed him over the summer to get his story.

Spartan InternsCSN: What prompted you to do an internship?
TC: I needed general education credits to finish up my final semester, and I figured it would be significantly better to work than to take classes like bowling.

CSN: How did you find your internship and how long did it take to obtain it?
TC: I found my internship through my adviser, and the internship a little over two weeks to contact the internship location, interview, and accept the internship.

CSN: What were your responsibilities at MATRIX? What was your typical day like?
TC: At MATRIX, I was responsible for writing software that would log employee hours, and allow for administrators to manage finances and projects of the company in an organized fashion. Basically, I was the sole designer of an hour managing website.

CSN: What do you feel were the strong points or highlights of your internship experience?
TC: I feel that I was able to apply the most recent things I’ve learned in my major to a ‘real world’ experience.

CSN: What was the most significant thing you learned from your experience?
TC: The new technologies I’ve learned from this internship are probably the most significant things. More exposure to more types of technologies is valued highly in my major.

CSN: How many hours a week did you work? How did you manage your school and work schedules?
TC: I worked 24 hours a week. With the way my schedule was setup, I was essentially working a 9 to 5; when I didn’t have work during that time, I’d have class. Management was not too difficult; I would save doing homework until evenings, even when my schedule was less demanding, so doing homework past 5 p.m. wasn’t so bad. As time goes on, you find ways to get homework and studying done with it not interfering with work. It takes about as long as it does with just classes to get both work and school schedules down. With my internship, you would also have more flexible hours; if you had a project or test the next day, you could take time off of work to allow you to prepare better, so even if the scheduling didn’t seem like it would work, you could make it work.

MATRIX logo

MATRIX logo

CSN: In what ways were you able to incorporate knowledge gained from your classes into the workplace?
TC: I was able to directly incorporate knowledge gained from my classes. I required basic coding knowledge to be able to function at a reasonable pace, while also using my “learn how to learn” skills to be able to pick up these new technologies.

CSN: Did you work with other interns? If so, what was that experience like?
TC: I didn’t work with other interns, but I did work with other students. Working at a place on campus, odds are you’ll find a few people that work with you that are in the same classes as you, or at least are in the same program as you are. My experience was great working with other students in a workplace. I had no trouble asking for help, and I learned a lot from the other students. The other students are basically in the same situation as you are, so they can relate to your situation easily. We’d even started all going to lunch as a group once the weather started to get better, and had Nerf Gun fights when we needed to take a small break, or other things to make the work environment more friendly.

CSN: According to your responses, you are going to graduate this summer—Are you interning with MATRIX now? Is your internship experience helping you in your job search now? What are your plans for the future?
TC: I am currently continuing working at MATRIX until the end of the summer. I believe this internship will help tremendously with a résumé; being able to put your firsthand experience down on a résumé really adds to your portfolio. If nothing else, it shows others that you have initiative and are partially familiar with a workplace environment. For me personally, I feel like the internship really helped me to get ready for the workplace, and also will help me get there. I haven’t started the job search quite yet, but I know that after I’ve graduated, the internship will help me get to where I’m going to end up. For the future, I’d like to have a job similar to what I’ve done at the internship. I don’t have a particular place I’m looking at to work, but as long as I can find something interesting in my field, I will be happy with that.

CSN: Do you have any general advice for students who are looking for an internship, or who want to be successful in the internships they have?
TC: Use time management skills. Although if this is a new experience for you, you will not necessarily be able to gauge time correctly try your best to keep a weekly schedule and try to complete smaller tasks per week.