Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Internships for a 13-year-old?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 85 posts

Re: Ask HN: Internships for a 13-year-old?

#31

Post by hpvic03 »

mathgeek wrote: post #8

Maybe not the most popular opinion here, or maybe it will be, but advice from a father of two boys: Enjoy your childhood for the remaining 3-5 years before worrying so much about your professional career. You have decades of working in software ahead of you, if you continue on that path. Just enjoy your childhood, go out and play, or even just work on projects you enjoy. Once your childhood is gone, you'll regret not…

Many people who are the best at what they do started their careers very early. If someone wants do that then I don't think you should discourage them. Being satisfied with your career and work over the span of a lifetime because you spent the time to get good at it is more valuable a few years of goofing off.

Besides, age 13-14 is when you start high school, and that's when things get real anyway. If you intend to apply to a top school you need any advantage you can get, and work experience in jobs that are actual careers is impressive.

Re: Ask HN: Internships for a 13-year-old?

#34

Post by weinzierl »

mathgeek wrote: post #8

Maybe not the most popular opinion here, or maybe it will be, but advice from a father of two boys: Enjoy your childhood for the remaining 3-5 years before worrying so much about your professional career. You have decades of working in software ahead of you, if you continue on that path. Just enjoy your childhood, go out and play, or even just work on projects you enjoy. Once your childhood is gone, you'll regret not…

I did an internship when I was 13 and I enjoyed it. I agree with mathgeek, just saying that doing an internship must not conflict with having a good time.

Re: Ask HN: Internships for a 13-year-old?

#35

Post by ben_pr »

I really doubt you will find anything at your age but there are lots of opportunities to do cool stuff.

You can always look for really popular websites that need a total redo. Try buying a horse trailer or a horse and the horrific sites that await you are a world of opportunity to replace. Examples: http://www.horsetrailerworld.com/ http://www.dreamhorse.com/

Hard to believe after 15 years those sites haven't changed and are still some of the most popular equine sites around.

Not any real money to be made in this but someone needs to fix this mess.

I'm sure there are dozens of other types of sites like this but these are two I'm familiar with.

Re: Ask HN: Internships for a 13-year-old?

#36

Post by mvarner »

You can't really legally work anywhere at 13/14 -- I would totally recommend involving yourself with open source communities, joining a hackerspace, or looking for tech-related non-profit organizations that are interested in volunteers. Google Summer of Code might be a good option for you!

Re: Ask HN: Internships for a 13-year-old?

#37

Post by ShaneCurran »

Some of the answers saying you can't be employed at your age are not necessarily true. I'm a couple of years older than you but what you can do is to structure your employment in such a way that you are an independent contractor and your employers compensate you for your services. This way you would be self-employed and not subject to the relevant employment laws in your region.

Re: Ask HN: Internships for a 13-year-old?

#38

Post by gohrt »

smt88 wrote: post #14
isaacdl wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's easy to romanticize "carefree childhood", but I think that's baloney. I've loved working with computers for literally as long as I can remember. When I was 13, working with computers was playing! Getting paid to play would have been a dream come true for me at that age.

I've loved it, too, but I don't look back and treasure my countless hours coding. It's great to have a skill, but the things I remember are time I spent with my family and friends.

Do you treasure countless hours with family and friends, or do you treasure a set of memorable moments? Also, not everyone is an extrovery.

Re: Ask HN: Internships for a 13-year-old?

#39

Post by rvdm »

smt88 wrote: post #11

Once you get to college, you're going to realize that you'll never have a vacation like you did when you were young. Real life starts and it never ends until you die. Spend your summer doing something that you love. If that's coding, do that, and don't worry about getting paid for it yet. Also don't worry about building your resume -- you can start doing that when you're 14, if your heart is really set on it. No one…

This is a great point. But maybe it's possible to strike a balance? No teenager likes being told they can't or shouldn't pursue their dreams.

Plus, with this drive and ambition his company might IPO when he's 18 and then he can retire and spend the rest of his life living the good life.

Re: Ask HN: Internships for a 13-year-old?

#40

Post by bliti »

As someone who was once in a similar position:

- Due to child labor laws it might be an uphill battle.

- If no one will give you am internship you can try and join a bigger open source project.

- If all fails I'll happily not give you an intership and not have you working with robotics aimed software. Remote though. ;)

Post reply on HN