Internships : an important part of the training

The 42 Québec program includes two internships during the three-year program. During these professional experiences, students have the opportunity to learn about the realities of the job market and to put into practice the concepts they have learned during their studies.

Discover your preferences.

The first internship takes place after the core curriculum, that is, 12 to 18 months after the start of the program. At the end of the internship, students will have learned C programming, developed simple software using classical algorithms, and discovered file system access and UNIX process management. A first simple approach to network architecture and system administration is also included. Finally, object-oriented programming and a client-server project are included. In addition to knowledge, 42 Quebec’s pedagogical method encourages the development of skills such as collaboration, autonomy, and resourcefulness. These students will be well equipped to lend a hand.

Not all developer jobs are the same. The internship will also allow students to deepen their knowledge of the job market in order to better orient themselves. SME or multinational? Specialist or generalist? More or less responsibility? Decide or execute? Agency or company? These are important questions that are difficult to answer without having been in contact with the job market. The first internship, in addition to the workshops and conferences presented throughout the core curriculum, will help to better orient oneself for the rest of the program.

Pursue your ambitions.

The second part of the curriculum is specialization. It deals with the classic fields of digital technology and programming, such as artificial intelligence, security, and mobile application development. The projects that are presented aim to be neutral towards brands, technologies, and languages, in order to develop the students’ ability to adapt. Students will be free to choose their projects. It is therefore possible to focus on a single theme to specialize or to complete projects that touch on everything. At this point, each student can take a different path that corresponds to his/her ambitions. At the end of the 8 to 12 months of specialization, it is possible to complete the second internship.

The contribution of 42 Quebec interns to the job market is not negligible. This is why we strongly encourage them to get paid the right price. To help them in this process, the 42 Quebec team offers workshops and conferences throughout the year. In addition, a job fair is organized to allow partner companies to meet students on campus, in their natural environment. Although they are under no obligation to 42 Quebec’s partners, the latter has the advantage of being able to promote their company during various activities.

Concrete!

But what kind of tasks can we expect during an internship? Code review, development, production, maintenance, and debugging are just a few examples. Interns are employed to move projects forward and bring an external perspective to the table. The challenges are great in the IT industry and there is a lot to do. It is important to integrate them into the teams and make them want to be actively involved in the projects. For many companies, tutors will be assigned to candidates to facilitate their integration. Gone are the days when interns were given the task of maintaining the printer or filing documents!