<p>It’s an unpaid but for class credit internship. We are only required to work 150 hours, which I could easily accomplish with 10 hours, give or take during certain weeks, for 15 weeks. Right now my employer wants me to work 18-20 hours for 16 weeks (I begin my internship a week after school begins).</p>
<p>I would love to – but I do have other responsibilities to attend to like clubs and my other job. This is unpaid and I need some source of income so I can’t quit my job.</p>
<p>Would it be rude/unprofessional if I asked them to cut down my hours to almost half of what they want?</p>
<p>Is there a professor for this class credit as well? You might check in with the professor before talking to the employer. And did you find the internship yourself, or was it arranged somehow by your school (in that case maybe they should be the ones to talk to the employer). It does seem like a lot of hours for an unpaid internship during the school year (but if it is instead of a class and you are only taking three classes besides this, then maybe it makes more sense).</p>
<p>You can always ask. They know you are a student with other responsibilities and that you need another source of income. There is always room for negotiation, but if they need a student who can work 18-20 hours, they can try to find someone else or say that they aren’t willing to cut down your hours.</p>
<p>I would only think it’s unprofessional if you knew that this was how many hours they wanted and what your other commitments are, you agreed to it under those conditions, and all of a sudden you want to lower the amount of hours right before you start. If you’re just hearing about this, you can ask to lower it. However, be prepared that if that’s what they need, they may try to find another student.</p>
<p>Well, during the interview process, I was asked how many hours I’d be able to give. I said about 15 average, 20 at most because my job is quite demanding.</p>
<p>After I got offered the position, that is when both me and the employer received paperwork for the class credit thing. On it, it stated that the student will work 150 hours for the duration of the semester (17 weeks total). So I did not know beforehand and neither did the employer (I would assume?)?</p>
<p>So I sent my employer the docs, he signed it and sent it back to me. I’m not sure if he gave it a good read-through, but he gave me a schedule according to my work+class schedule and it totaled up to 18 hours a week.</p>
<p>I know I said in the interview I could give, at most, 20, but since it’s unpaid AND I am only required to work 150, I don’t see the need to completely overwork myself.</p>
<p>Other people may have different opinions about this, but I think you should stick to what you originally said. The amount that they put for class credit is the bare minimum to get the credit, but you are welcome to work over that amount. Just because they said that you had to work a minimum of 150 hours does not mean that you should limit yourself to that. The job is quite demanding, right? You went into it (and told your interviewer) with that knowledge and you were prepared to work at most 20 hours/week for it. This is a good experience for you, and there’s nothing wrong with going above the bare minimum, if you can manage it.</p>
<p>Perhaps, you can ask to do the original 15 hrs/week (on average) that you said you could do, but you can be flexible about it. Perhaps, you could try to work out an arrangement where you do a little more on weeks where you have more time, and do a little less on weeks where you have exams or finals?</p>
<p>I get that you have other responsibilities, but you knew that in the beginning and you said that you could do 15 hours/week. I think you should honor that, at least, even though you can do less than that and still get course credit. Obviously, if you really can’t handle it (or are confident that you won’t be able to), you should discuss it with your employer, and you should definitely keep this in mind in the future. But I don’t think you should cut your hours just because the minimum is lower than what you initially said.</p>
<p>Of course, this is all different if the school sets a hard maximum for the number of hours you are allowed to work, and then you can go to your employer and discuss your concerns. But it’s good experience, and I would personally do at least the 15 hours that I initially proposed. It’s a demanding job, and they’re allowed to find someone else who can do it, if you can’t.</p>
<p>Upon intparent’s post, I emailed the professor. It is 150 hours minimum. </p>
<p>Does anyone else have opinions? I think 15 would be good since I said 15 average, but how would I bring this to them when they just threw a schedule at me?</p>