Should I Quit my Unpaid Internship

chickenboi8008 · 10-16-2012, 02:54 PM

I just recently graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering and I currently have an unpaid internship at a start-up medical device company that I started this past May. I'm really frustrated with it because I'm supposed to be designing medical devices on Solidworks but instead, my boss has me working on this iPhone case project for one of his friends. It has nothing to do with what I applied for. Furthermore, no one really shows up to work and it's really annoying sitting in the office alone. The fact that I'm basically wasting gas driving back and forth (I'm from California and gas prices really suck right now) bothers me too.

The only incentive for keeping this internship is that my boss really likes me and I could get a really good letter of recommendation from him. I've been applying to other jobs where my interests lie in but so far, I haven't had any luck. Should I just keep the internship, even though it's not really related what I want to do in the future and it's not paid?

sciencenerd · 10-16-2012, 09:35 PM

Why is your internship unpaid? It seems like you're doing real engineering work. There are certain guidelines for an unpaid internship with the main one being that you should benefit more than the employer in an internship.

Negotiate/Ask your boss if you can get some gas money if your house is far away.

Since you haven't had much luck finding a job, keep this position for now since atleast you're getting some experience. Maybe ask your boss if you can work on something cooler. (In different words obv.)

How many hours a week do you work?

Frosting · 10-17-2012, 12:11 AM

I would say stick with it, for now, since you don't have any other job. I would still apply to other jobs to see if opportunities come up.

Try to stealthily mention something about solidworks when you have the chance. Maybe something like "this iphone case project is almost going to be done! I'm excited to use solidworks after" and gauge your bosses reaction.

chickenboi8008 · 10-18-2012, 09:57 PM

It's only about 20-25 hours a week. And it's unpaid because it's a start up company and they don't have any funding. The previous interns who worked there said that they've been promised to be paid by my boss for over a year.

Smooth23 · 10-20-2012, 10:28 PM

Ditch it. If they are a start up, and haven't been paying interns, odds are they wont be around long enough for a letter of recommendation to matter.

youknowme123 · 10-21-2012, 10:08 AM

If you are not putting yourself in a hole financially, even if its a small one, I would keep it till you find something promising just because you are already there. Otherwise as a company that can't afford to pay its intern anything at all just screams red flags. No matter how small the company is.

oldfort · 10-21-2012, 10:12 AM

Quit the job. If you want to continue then ask if you could work from home. I don't see why you would need to be in the office. It is not legal not to pay for service rendered.

dowzerw · 10-21-2012, 08:05 PM

I think the guise of an internship has become a great excuse to hire someone for nothing. On the one hand, internships are great for experience, networking and the resume. On the other hand, as a graduate, you should be beyond an unpaid internship. All of that said, it looks better to be developing experience than it does to be doing nothing so while unpaid is undesirable, you are at least gaining something worth mentioning in applications to work elsewhere and while engineers are more marketable than most, in this economic environment, every bit of credibility has value.