When can a CS Major become valuable as an intern? I.e., What knowledge will I need to know before an employer will even consider my programming skills for a summer internship?

I am getting pretty frustrated at the moment with my major. I'm just finishing up my second year (at community college..) and transferring to a UC to continue.

Currently the CS-related courses I have taken are: Intro to C++ (two quarters), Data Structures & Algorithms in C++ (one quarter). C as a second language (one quarter), Intro to UNIX/Linux.

I don't currently find any of these skills useful as no one is looking to pay me to create a program they can run in a console...

I also noticed that most employers of interns are looking for either Python/Django experience or Java/Javscript experience... So what the hell am I doing with C++??

Furthermore, what can I work on this Summer, and which courses should I sign up for (this coming school year) so that next Summer I will be able to actually flex my CS muscles and get a powerful internship?

Some other ideas I have thought about was diving into Android App development. Where do I even start with this? I know it doesn't use C++ (I believe its Java based?), so would I need to start learning Java? What else? How long will learning this take?

Also any other idea on how I can make money with my major before I graduate?

Thanks for taking the time to answer my question!

EDIT: Wow! Thanks for all of the replies. I have read through every single one of them so far (~100 comments), and will keep this bookmarked for the future.

Posted Jun 24, 2012, 2:42 AM UTC · edited

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