<p>I agreed to assist a graduate student with dissertation research in order to gain some internship experience. However, this internship has turned into a nightmare that is overtaking my life. I wake up everyday stressed out and agitated over this internship. She sends us tasks 3 hours before they are due, we are never given advance notice on anything. I am usually a very compliant person and I work hard but this is just bad. I have a part time job and agreed to 10 hours (give or take a few) each week of the internship. It has become a 20-30 hour a week internship at times and these past 2 weeks have been slow because of break. She is finding absolutely menial tasks for us to do in the meantime. By menial tasks, I mean making hundreds of phone calls for other graduate students who have no relation to our study and work assignments for them that I did not agree to do. I have missed class and my job for this internship and it is never enough. No one else in the group seems to have a problem with this, they complain but all act as though it is normal for this to happen. What should I do? I have another semester to go. I am not a quitter but I also do not think it is fair and I doubt I am going to get a good recommendation if I stand up to her.</p>
<p>Edit: I do not receive pay nor class credit for this internship, it is purely voluntary.</p>
<p>I was kind of hoping for a more constructive answer. What do I say so that I make it clear I am committed to the study but that I am not going to do some of the unreasonable things she asks?</p>
<p>It’s obviously taking a toll on you, you said you weren’t going to get a good recommendation, and you are missing things that are actually important (class, job) for this internship that you don’t like. </p>
<p>Quit. It’s not worth it. Go find something else that is a better match for you.</p>
<p>Find something that is a better match for you, and then give your resignation. It is part of life that we go on to better things. Find something better.</p>
<p>The problem is all the summer internship deadlines have passed. I graduate in August and have nothing to put on my resume besides part time retail and full time serving jobs.</p>
<p>personal assistant is the polite way of describing a word that starts with ‘b’ and ends with ‘ch’. I was one of those for a while, and it’s degrading. It’s on a different level than research assistant.</p>
<p>but nerd, you can choose to comply with your instructor’s BS, and for that you would deserve a very, very good LOR from her. But on the other hand, you might get some respect from her if you stand up for yourself and show some self dignity.</p>
<p>Long hours are par for the course for research work in graduate school. However since your not a graduate student that’s a bit out of hand time wise. </p>
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<p>What? Is this a joke? Seriously, never work for free. Its almost never worth it. As for it increasing your job prospects think of it this way, Why would a company pay for something someone else was getting for free?</p>
<p>If you don’t want to quit then maybe you need to establish some boundaries. While giving it up does sound like a good idea to me, you obviously have reasons that make staying important to you. So, you need to put down some ground rules and stick to them. It is a little take to be doing this, but better late than never.</p>
<p>You stated that you are doing things that you never agreed to. Well, stop doing that. Just say no. You don’t need to offer excuses or even discuss why you are not doing whatever it is that you disagree with. Just say no. End of story. If there is some discussion about why you are saying no, all you need to say is that you did not agree to that when you signed up.</p>
<p>Give the internship what you promised in the beginning. If you offered or agreed on a few hours a week then give that. If you are busy during the time that she sends the assignment with no advance notice, then say no. Tell her that you are sorry but due to your schedule, you can’t accomplish that at this time. </p>
<p>The fact is that you need to work your regular job, because you need the money. You need to go to classes because that is why you are there in the first place. Keep your priorities straight and do what you need to do.</p>
<p>thank you sunnysally! that’s exactly the advice i was looking for! i have already invested so much time into this internship that i can’t see quitting when I only have a few months left.</p>
<p>Ok well I have been trying to deal with my supervisor and I’ve finally reached my limit. I skipped a mandatory meeting because I had to work today and she sent me two text messages and two emails about “my lack of professionalism.” How do I even respond to this? I have to work to pay my bills, she seems to not understand anything that I tell her.</p>
<p>biologynerd,
It took you from March 27, when you responded to SunnySally, until April 20 to enact her advice? If so, you need to be more assertive.
Your boss is using you.
Since your boss sent you two e-mails and two texts, she obviously has problems.
There is a person at your school who is in charge of internships. Talk to them, simply expressing that you need to return to what was promised.
And, by the way, the very definition of an internship is a job you do for free.</p>
<p>well you should not just skip meetings. You should tell her beforehand that you cannot make it. </p>
<p>Send her an email now telling her that you appreciate the opportunity to help her BUT that, as you both originally agreed upon, 10 hours a week is the max you can commit due to your other obligations (work, school), and any more hours a week mean that you fall behind on your other primary obligations. </p>
<p>If you can’t work it out, then quit. Honestly, I would never work that many hours/week unpaid anyways. </p>
<p>From all you tell us, even if you continue working 20-30 hours a week, your “boss” won’t give you a good reccomendation anyways. You very well could end up with no recommendation, poor grades, and less money because of your desire to have this menial work experience.</p>
<p>I didn’t take a month to enact SunnySally’s advice. My internship leader is just completely unreasonable and whenever I think I have set boundaries she just tears them down.</p>
<p>There is no person in charge of this internship because she is the grad student running the study. She’s the leader/supervisor. I work in a lab on campus.</p>
<p>I realize an internship is a job that is done for free; however, I didn’t agree to working 30 hours a week for free. I don’t think you understand where I’m coming from.</p>
<p>Whatdidyou,</p>
<p>I didn’t just skip the meeting. I informed her that I wouldn’t be coming earlier and she chose to ignore me and instead responded “work it out because it is mandatory.” It was an end of the year party for the lab. I didn’t really need to be there. I don’t have a lot to put on my resume because I changed my major spring of Junior year and I work almost full time. That’s why I am concerned about this “menial job experience.”</p>
<p>Nerd- I think WDY is suggesting you speak with the person on campus that approves and arranges the internships. Usually, the project leader would need approval before engaging interns. Also, if they are a grad student, they should have a faculty member over them that approved and will be overseeing the research, correct.? Those are the resources that posters are recommending you contact for assistance.</p>
<p>If it were me, I would talk to your supervisor, or her supervisor. “I am concerned that I had budgeted X hours to do Y, but I am finding that my supervisor needs Z.” Starting next week, I will need to stick to my budget of X. Shall we work out the best schedule for that?</p>
<p>BioNerd: I have no idea what type of intership you’re performing, but you agreed to do x, which turned into y. You receive no stipend or college credit for performing this task. </p>
<p>There are other better uses of your time:
Volunteer at a local not-for-profit. Any NFP will thrilled to have reliable volunteers to assist with their tasks, even better if they can use your educational or learned skill set (computer, GIS, etc).
Call a few local for-profit companies to see if you they have any internships or contract (short term project specific) work available. Being paid to do what you know is very nice.
Is there another college/community college/ technical school nearby? If so contact the dept in your field of study to see if they’d like any FREE help.</p>