As you can probably guess from the title, I am a university student studying Computer Science. I’d consider myself a bit of a ‘jack-of-all-trades, master of none’ in my degree so I’m very open to all the different types of jobs that the tech industry has to offer. Currently, I’m applying for a year in industry and I’m generally steering away from programmer jobs as I feel there’s people way more talented than me in that field in my year. However, I do enjoy programming. I just haven’t been doing it as long as some of my peers.

So I guess my question is, what’s the expectation of undergrad or grad software engineers? I mean for me, I know there’s alot of things that I have to learn as I go. Recently, we’ve been making an Android app and I’m constantly referring to documentation and tutorials. It’s going well, but in industry I just have an idea that it’s a very different ball-game. I also know that some universities and students have a reputation of being great at CompSci theory but crap at programming.

Seconding the question above, what kind of programming roles to grads and interns do? Maintenance and testing? Pair programming? How long does it take a typical graduate to become productive? How much support and training to graduates receive?

I decided to post this as I’m aware many undergrads want to know this so hopefully your answers are of benefit to all of us. I know there’s a tonne of questions up there and I expect other students have even more so if you can provide as much insight as possible, I’m sure all of us would appreciate it. Thanks.