Work

Hi,

I'm learning BSc computer science at uni of Leicester, but i need to built up my finance as its not going well.

Im hoping to get a job in any field for machine learning but im in first year only which makes it really difficult. Has anyone ever got a part time job in their study field? If yes please let me know what should I do?

Thanks!
Zephyr

Hiya,
I did elec engineering, not CS, and it's also been a few years since I graduated, but as I did internships in the past and now I get to hire STEM students and graduates, I recommend you to have a look here - https://www.gradcracker.com/search/computing-technology/work-placements-internships

As you're in your 1st year you may get into a summer internship, and then after completing your 2nd year get into a 12-months placement. Depending on the company these placements will pay anywhere between £20k and £25k a year (pro rata).

If you need money now I think the best way for you may be going for a minimum wage part time job (any job), but I strongly recommend to not do more than 20 hours a week, otherwise you WILL fall behind in uni. I did that because I had no other choice and I struggled a lot with keeping up with my studies because of that, but I also had to pay the bills and put some food on the table. So if you aren't struggling that much I definitely recommend focusing on your studies and then doing placements separately.

Also, don't limit your choices only to the big tech companies. CS engineers are needed in all industries - energy, healthcare, infrastructure, oil and gas, telecom, banking and financing, defence, etc. And you can by all means learn and apply machine learning there.

All the best,
Al

Thank you very much for the detail response, I’m not in difficult situation but yea will take this advice. If possible can you explain how this summer internships works? And when would be the best time to apply?

Well, summer placement is what is says on the tin. It's normally a 3-months full-time assignment, meaning you'll most likely be working June-July-August on 40hrs per week basis.
From project work and development perspective don't expect too much since 3 months is a really short period to get much done, but it's a good work experience nonetheless and will look good on your resume when you're going to start looking for 12-months placements or grad roles. The pay is also decent, well, better than a minimum wage job you can find otherwise.

The content of the placement entirely depends on the company so I can't comment much here. In the company I work for we don't normally offer summer placements for the reasons above, but if we were then that would most likely be some hands on work working closely with our engineers.

The best time to apply is whenever you see a good opportunity open 🙂 Start looking for summer placements now, there should be a few open, see the link I shared earlier, filter by summer placements.

Regarding 12-months placement, the vast majority of companies start advertising very early (September-October) for the first day at work normally being in June-July the following year, so once you're back in your 2nd year - start looking and start applying. Early bird get's the worm.

Perfect 👌 thank you really much!
And does the summer internship require certain grades or any sort of grades to get into it? Or you just apply and see what happens?

Hi,
I'm learning BSc computer science at uni of Leicester, but i need to built up my finance as its not going well.
Im hoping to get a job in any field for machine learning but im in first year only which makes it really difficult. Has anyone ever got a part time job in their study field? If yes please let me know what should I do?
Thanks!
Zephyr