I am a engineering student that just finished my junior year. For the past month I started my internship that goes through December. I REALLY regret taking it. I absolutely do not like the line of work that it involves. And it’s not just that – it’s my coworkers too. If this was just a normal May-August internship, I would suck it up. However, because my graduation is pushed back a year because of the fall semester portion, I don’t know if I can mentally suck it up. (My school does not have a set-in-place co-op program). I will return to school and do my senior coursework (which is mostly group work) with students I have never met before so I already know I will be getting screwed with teammates for my important projects. I also will have no friends graduating with me at all (not just in my major, all my friends are graduating on time). Plus all my scholarships will be lost for my 5th year and right now I have a full-tuition scholarship so it is a big financial burden to not graduate on time. I also signed a lease in where I go to school before I got the offer and can’t find a sublease (at my school you have to sign about a year in advance). I feel underqualified, and I honestly do not know how I got the job because it is with a major corporation and I felt like I interviewed okay at best and my resume is average compared to my classmates. When I was took the tour on my on-site interview, I could tell it was something I wouldn’t enjoy. I also didn’t think they were going to hire me, and basically took the interview as “good experience” for my next.
But then I got the offer, and my parents really really really pushed me into taking it even though I was hesitant. This was Fall Semester, so I would’ve had time to keep looking. At the time, I wasn’t being picky and applied for everything that I was “on-paper/by the job description” qualified for without actually looking closely because I didn’t want to graduate with no experience. But by the time the day came for me to decide, I didn’t have any other interviews lined up so I didn’t want to risk it (they gave me a 2 week window) and I caved and did what my parents said and went in with an open mind.
I don’t like my line of work, my coworkers, location of my job, or the company culture. I really tried to go in with an open mind and see the positives because I know I’ll learn a lot, but things haven’t clicked. I haven’t been this miserable in years, and I have diagnosed ADD and anxiety and I’m worried about it affecting my work. I can barely sleep at night dreading going to work the next day. I’m really trying to stick it out, but if things don’t look better by end-of-July/early-August I really want to get out of it. But I don’t want to graduate with no experience/quitting because I’m worried about what that would do for my full job search. My friends who have done internships before me say it takes about a month to get acclimated, so hopefully I just haven’t given it enough time. Has anyone been in a similar situation and can offer any advice on what to do?
On the job experience is really important but spending eight months on a job you hate is a mistake. Give yourself a deadline for what is enough time to have given the job fair shake. in the meantime think about Plan B make sure you’re not locked out of going back to school in the fall if you need to.
One of my kids friends had a similar situation, took a summer internship with a large engineering company and did manual labor with people he hated. He left early and didn’t have a problem finding his next internship. The key is to leave in a professional manner and get a recommendation during the year you can use for the next job. If it were me and I knew I’d get a bad recommendation from a poor fit job I’d rather it be a for a poor fit summer job than a semester plus internship.
@TomSrOfBoston Yes, this is my first job in my field I’m studying. At the time, I was considering everything I could potentially be qualified for because it is pushed on us that it is better to graduate late rather than graduate with no experience. It also appealed to me because it is a well-known company. This situation was basically my last choice, but also the only one that had a offer for me around Thanksgiving. Most of my advisors were also telling me to contemplate that most summer internships that recruit from my school have their interns lined up by the end of winter break, so even if I didn’t take it I may be looking at taking a semester off anyway if I hadn’t been contacted about interviewing anywhere else. I waited until the last day to contact HR to see if anyone else would interview me, but no one did and I was scared to risk no work experience upon graduation and a full-time job search.
And I was never against a long internship/co-op, it’s just that if I was going to push back everything else I would want it to be in a field I was passionate about. It sounded interesting on paper, but I don’t think it’s for me. I don’t want to work here after graduation and I don’t see myself wanting to work for any of the competitors in the same industry/field of work so I’m contemplating how bad it would hurt my reputation if I did decide to leave.
@CaMom13. The thing I’m worried about is that because I already finished my junior year, I don’t have time for another internship as I would graduate in Spring 2019. So I would potentially be searching for full-time employment with a “burned bridge” so-to-speak.
Did you sign a contract for the period of your internship? If not, then you should inquire with the company about ending it in August if going back for fall term is still an option. The risk with that is that they may just fire you on the spot. It actually sounds like that might be a better option. As you indicated, you’d be burning your bridge at that one company, but that sounds like it would not be an issue for you.
You may have gotten some bad advice from your advisor. I would get the packet of resumes for internships for my company around the first of January. I’d interview in the first few months of the year and decide on who to hire around spring break. Not all companies would be the same but quite a few I knew about were on the same schedule as I was.
@Engstudent11 - can’t you do an internship next Spring? It won’t put you more behind to work Spring semester than it would to work Fall.
What I would encourage is for you to stop operating in fear mode and start thinking about your career as if you own it - because you do. This isn’t your counselor’s life and it’s not your parents’ career - your career planning must be about what you want out of a job. As long as you don’t hate engineering you will find opportunities to do interesting stuff professionally but you need to take ownership over the search process.
I could do an internship next spring, but that would still push my graduation back a year. So as I said earlier, I’m not against taking a semester off but I would really want it to be with something I’m interested in. Without giving away specifics, I’m working for a household name company that is very on the industrial/manufacturing side of engineering and I would rather be working in product design.
I want to stick it out until the end of July before I make any decision because hopefully my mind will change once I do more work and get acclimated to my coworkers, but if it doesn’t, I’ll still have a summer of work experience to put on my resume. But I don’t want to screw over everyone else with uncompleted projects. I will say that I do like my mentor (but right now that’s the only person), but I don’t want to bring it up with her yet in case I get fired. But we have had a conversation about where I eventually want to be working and what I’ll be doing after December because she jumped around a few jobs in a few fields. I already told her that because of my victory lap (pending I stay) I’ll have an extra summer to intern and I want it to be something opposite to see a different side of engineering before I start a full time search.
My employment is at-will, so I technically can quit it just wouldn’t look good. I will also add that my pay is below industry average and below my other friends who aren’t working in my specific industry whose jobs are similar to mine. Side note: It’s almost 4am where I live and this is the second time I’ve woken up. This has happened everyday since I started.
An option im toying with if I do go back to school is contacting my advisor soon and asking his advice. I’ve never seen someone from my school leave an internship early. But my advisor places a lot of students into undergraduate research roles, and while not an internship, it’s better than nothing.
Is it possible that your mentor could help you switch to another internship within the same company? Perhaps they have something else that might interest you more?
Can you stay with the job thru end of July, then it will look like a typical “summer Internship” and get back into school in the fall? Are you getting paid? Also just explain it is for financial reasons and to graduate on time, and you hadnt realized the impact of the tuition etc.
You can still put it on your resume. Just try to make it look like a summer internship.
Why is it so bad? Are they horrible people who talk down to you? Are they having you do filing or answering phones? I’m trying to understand how a corporate job can be so bad.
I have to suggest- talk to your advisor and see if he can help you come up with a decent excuse to end the job in late August so that it looks like a normal internship.
One idea, presuming you still don’t like it after July: maybe discuss with your mentor that you thought your scholarship would simply move to when you came back, but you found out you will look se it for your last semester. How difficult would it be for her company if you ended it at the summer?
I agree with @suzyQ7 — it is hard to specifically tell what is wrong from your post. I’m a consultant, have been at lots of clients. I’ve had a couple I really hated, and the rest have been a mix. I always stuck it out, at least through the initial contract length. Are you bored? Or are you feeling unqualified? Are people being mean to you? Or is this just general anxiety and opportunity cost making you angst?
If you are diagnosed with ADD and anxiety, do you take medication(s) for that and do you see a psychiatrist or therapist? Have you had any type of full time job before? Trying to figure out if this is a transition issue .
Plus, if you’re not able to sleep properly, you’re just going to get even more cranky and unhappy about this situation. I am with the others who have suggested that you somehow terminate it as a summer internship, if possible.
One thing jumped out at me in your first post - you have already assumed that the unknown group project partners down the road are not going to be cooperative .To me, that suggests a heightened sense of anxiety. . (I am familiar with this line of thinking because I have family members who often reason this way, and make themselves miserable.)
I recruit Engineers. Do NOT graduate without experience! Most engineers intern at least 2 times so you really put yourself in a very poor situation if you don’t have at least one full internship. If this is truly that horrible, I would suggest leaving early (give them notice) and the secure another internship for spring semester. What I often tell people “your first job/internship is often to find out what you don’t want to do”
In my college, you can enroll for fall term classes and drop them as late as one week into the term with a full refund. To quell your anxiety, why not enroll for fall classes as a contingency plan and drop them later in the summer if the internship starts to turn around for the better?
Additionally, in the next few weeks try to build a good relationship with your manager. Then, tell him/her of your situation regarding graduation/financial aid and ask if it would be possible to end your internship immediately prior to fall term. Butter them up and tell them you’d love to come back after you graduate as well. From my understanding, it’s not uncommon for interns to request alterations to their commitment if it’s in the best interest of their careers.
Don’t stress over it too much. If you do good work while you’re there I don’t see why you couldn’t leave early without “burning a bridge” as you suggest.
Another note: I noticed you mentioned location as one of the things you dislike about your current situation. Since you also referenced friends as being important to your college experience, could this be more of an issue than you’re realizing? Drastic changes in environment like this are pretty common causes of stress. Reaching out to your doctor to help work through this should be your number one priority.