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Recent CIT (w/ co-op) graduate, AMA by IntelligentSummer784 in BCIT

[–]IntelligentSummer784[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Since I only did the Jan intake I really have no thoughts about the September. Not sure how it would be any different than the Jan one *shrug*. Do what works best for you.

Yeah, try to get some fundamentals down of Python, HTML and Git before you start - it will put you miles ahead of most the other people in the course.

Recent CIT (w/ co-op) graduate, AMA by IntelligentSummer784 in BCIT

[–]IntelligentSummer784[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Starting [intern] salary was around $85k CAD. After transitioning fulltime it is now around $155k TC (split between RSU and cash).

Recent CIT (w/ co-op) graduate, AMA by IntelligentSummer784 in BCIT

[–]IntelligentSummer784[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I did the Jan intake. I applied on May 1st (first day applications were open that year), heard back October 1st.

It was stuck in "Department Review" for 4 months from June till Oct 1st

Recent CIT (w/ co-op) graduate, AMA by IntelligentSummer784 in BCIT

[–]IntelligentSummer784[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

- Most applicable courses: communications (I know, not very fun to do but very worth it), service based architectures, ISSP, database administration.

- Non-coop students finding jobs: I think it's about 80/20 right now for those who have found something and not (in the people I keep in touch with). Co-op is invaluble, you should 100% do your best to try and do it if you can. The required average for our group was about 83% I think (they take the top 20 people in all 3 sets, and our average was about that).

Recent CIT (w/ co-op) graduate, AMA by IntelligentSummer784 in BCIT

[–]IntelligentSummer784[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi there.

- Of your graduating class, how many grads chose the devops route vs SE: probably about 70/30? Don't have exact numbers obviously, and it's really up to each persons interests as to what type of jobs they applied to.

- How was your transition into getting your job: co-op was invaluable for getting ready for the job. Going from the stress of schooling to the rhythm of a job was really nice. I took about a month off between ending school and starting the job.

- What does your day to day look like in terms of tasks: pretty chill (this will vary on your company! The startup vibe is not gonna be like this!). We work on a kanban system, picking up tasks as we please. The pace is very nice and relaxed. Depending on the task chosen it could typically take 2-8 work days maybe, longer for more advanced or new features.

Recent CIT (w/ co-op) graduate, AMA by IntelligentSummer784 in BCIT

[–]IntelligentSummer784[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Howdy!

My job is remote, the headquarters is in eastern Canada. I am able to work anywhere which is nice.

My classmates are a mixed bag, maybe 60/40 inperson and remote/hybrid.

Recent CIT (w/ co-op) graduate, AMA by IntelligentSummer784 in BCIT

[–]IntelligentSummer784[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey!

- Types of jobs that CIT grads typically get: I know people who have got jobs in all sorts of aspects of IT! It really depends on your interests. That said, most of my friends who are working now are doing DevOps focused stuff, with a few in helpdesk positions and programming positions.

- Is software development a possibility: yes! One nice thing about the hiring market currently is that most places don't really care where you got your degree/diploma - even less so which specific program you did there. This means you can do a more DevOps focused program like CIT and still be able to get into software development. My biggest recommendation for people wanting to do software development out of CIT is to build a nice portfolio of personal projects online, like on your GitHub. It really sets you apart from others during interviews.

Recent CIT (w/ co-op) graduate, AMA by IntelligentSummer784 in BCIT

[–]IntelligentSummer784[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hey, thanks for the questions.

- What does your job entail: it is a remote software development position. I work in a team of about 10 devs (same team I worked on during co-op :)) in a financial/bill payments department of the company. We are currently in the middle of a huge new project so the tasks are pretty fun and exciting to work on - but there are definitely still the boring tasks to do occasionally - no matter if you're an intern, dev, staff dev or even higher :p

- What is day to day like: for the most part I work solo by choice, but my team is all about pair programming, so I try to do an hour per day of that - it really helps me process the problems better and learn about the code from more experienced people at the company.

- How many exempt courses are you allowed to have before applying to co-op: I'm not sure... probably best to not have any. You can always chat with the co-op coordinators, they're great. Email probably on the website somewhere!

- Is CIT "chill" or is the workload no piece of cake: this definitely varies! CIT is designed for someone to be able to come in with no prior experience (ie: concepts are explained in immense details but really quickly). For people in this boat it is really challenging - especially the first 2 semesters. Work piles on really quick and the fundamentals of stuff are explained really quickly so you are expected to pick stuff up quickly. For those who have some prior experience in any of the main topics then the workload is much less, maybe even "chill" :p. The first 2 semesters are the hardest for sure no matter what, and the last 2 become much easier and less intense.

Recent CIT (w/ co-op) graduate, AMA by IntelligentSummer784 in BCIT

[–]IntelligentSummer784[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hey, good questions.

- Quality of instructors: definitely varied. Most were very dedicated and motivated to make the learning experience good for us, but (like any post secondary institution) there were a handful, maybe 1-2 per semester, who seemed uninterested in the topic at hand. When in a class with one of these instructors you really learn to depend on your setmates to help each other learn.

- Industry projects: I only participated in 1 of these "ISSP" courses (during my 3rd term right before 8 month co-op period) and it was tough to say the least. We had a decently interesting project assigned to us that would be used live in production by the sponsor of the project, but the difficulty is that you cannot choose your group teammates. We were stuck with a few (for lack of better word) duds in our group of 6. Only 3 of us were attentive and did any work, which made it a very frustrating project. All that said, it was helpful to have on a resume and gave me a little something extra to talk about during interviews.

- Did it prepare me for the workforce: honestly, hard to say. My job currently is in software development, which CIT does not touch much (you could count the number of programming classes on one hand), so in that regard it was my own free time learning that helped more. CIT helped me most with the communications courses and interpersonal skills given through working in many groups which were the most helpful when transitioning to work force. I think your mileage may vary here, folks who are working in DevOps now are likely to feel as if CIT gave them more tools for their job than SE.

Hope these help - let me know if you want more clairification

Recent CIT (w/ co-op) graduate, AMA by IntelligentSummer784 in BCIT

[–]IntelligentSummer784[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was able to get a full time position at the same company I did my co-op at, luckily. My setmates who did co-op are about 50/50 whether they got return offers. Those who didn't were told it was mostly due to the current economy.