Perception

I spent some time in the past week getting started on PHP, and so far I’ve covered majority of the basic concepts. The syntax of PHP is quite similar to Java which I’m already familiar with, so the examples given have been easier to follow and understand. Another area that these languages have in common is that they both involve object-oriented programming. However, one of the main differences I’ve encountered is the dollar-sign prefix used for PHP variables, but the fact that the data type need not be declared provides a certain degree of convenience.

The book I’m currently reading is O’Reilly’s Learning PHP & MySQL (2nd edition), and I purchased it from Funan DigitaLife Mall a few days ago. I spent nearly half an hour browsing the selection of books and ultimately settled on this one. Although most of the reviews for the book are generally poor, I’ve found it to be a suitable read thus far. It’s been easy to understand the explanations and examples, but I expect some difficulty as I enter the MySQL chapters. I’m not familiar with MySQL and only have minimal experience with this language, so the second half of this book should present more challenges.

On an unrelated note, I went for an interview on Wednesday at Avant Global, a local startup which provides services in the fields of event marketing and IT. I was applying for the positions of Marketing Intern and Design/Development Intern, and was quite excited that they had granted me the interview. The location of their office is relatively far and out of the way, and it took me about half an hour of meticulous planning and three buses to reach the place. The interviewers were the founder and another manager, and what struck me immediately when I met them was how young they were. The interview which followed was more like a conversation, and I felt quite comfortable speaking to them. It lasted about twenty minutes or so, during which I got to know more about the company and vice versa.

I’m not too sure how I did for the interview, but I managed to highlight what areas I was able to contribute to their company. They mentioned that they had a wealth of applicants for the positions, so my chances of securing the internship are probably slim. I’m looking forward to a positive reply from them, and crossing my fingers that it’ll come this weekend.

Update: It’s been a week since the interview, and the silence and lack of response from Avant Global can only mean that I didn’t make the cut. It’s a shame though, as I was really keen on the exposure and experience. It looks like I’ll have to find something else to busy myself with these next four weeks.

Further Update: Avant Global got back to me after all, two weeks after the interview, with an offer for the position of Design/Development Intern. I’m also only required to start at the end of December, so I’ll only be working for half a month. I’m thankful for the opportunity nonetheless and hope I’ll be able to learn something from my time there.