Is it ok to work at a start up for an internship?

Parents Forum
1

<p>Hi everyone, I am a student at Cal. For the past semester I've been actively seeking an internship, but without luck. Some large and well established companies offered to interview me but I didn't get past that stage (I get the vibe that my parents are solely disappointed despite them saying I tried my best)</p>

<p>Is working at a start-up a good idea? My friends keep telling me all the companies that have structured internship programs have been done hiring long ago, and now I am stuck with ones that either pay nothing or where you won't learn anything.</p>

<p>People keep asking me what my eventual career goals are, but I do not know! I think that is one of the problems I face. </p>

<p>And I think my parents are really disappointed that I didn't get hired by the well established companies. I feel I am disappointing myself for not being able to find a job. All this is making life very sad and stressful, and at the same time I have to cope with the onslaught of finals. And I am losing motivation of doing well in school since it doesn't seem to be helping me to find a job. Is this sort of mentality abnormal? I feel really hopeless sometimes..</p>

2

<p>often times job interview can be pretty much the same as the college application process which you had been thru. in job interview, you would also need to make your credentials shine out, show your poise and confidence, let them know how you admire the company and what you can learn from them and of course what you can contribute. just like in your college essay, how the company can be a fit for you and you for them.</p>

3

<p>The first thing I think you should do is realize that right now is about your educational and career path and try to not worry so much about what your parents think in this area. You're the one heading down your path - not them. Try to put the 'disappointed, 'sad', 'stressful', 'losing motivation', hopeless', 'abnormal' 'problems' thoughts and vocabulary out of your head.</p>

<p>Doing an internship at a startup could be a great idea. It'll depend on the particular startup. Sometimes at a startup you'll have more of an opportunity to do 'real' things and to see all aspects of that business since you'll be one of very few people there. Sometimes an internship at some of those large established companies with established internship programs might not afford you as much opportunity to get highly involved in lots of aspects of that business since they might limit the involvement of the interns. It all really depends and I think it's best to stay away from generalities here.</p>

<p>Getting an internship at a startup is better than doing nothing. If you can't get a internship anywhere then target either working for the summer or, if you're willing and able, maybe doing some study-abroad in the summer unless you already have that planned for during one or more of your semesters.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the responses so far. I think a problem I can't shake off is the loss of confidence in myself. I don't think I am the best candidate for the position. I'm not the best student. I'm not the most qualified. These sorts of statements keep lingering in my mind and I have so much trouble shaking them off. I think one of the concerns for me at working at a start up is that they will make me perform petty tasks-but as you said I should stay away from generalities.. but is my concern valid?</p>

5

<p>there're many things in this world, jobs included, that sometimes are outside your control. just have a balanced view, if you have a start-up job, think of the opportunity to view from the foundation and have a look-up perspective which many people at the top cannot see. you'll also have hands-on experience.</p>

6

<p>firax, you have to shake off the attitude "I'm not the best". You are THE candidate they need and want. Don't think about your low grades, or your failed test, or anything else that keeps clogging your channel for positive thoughts. Let them flow freely. You can do it! You got the interview, which means they are serious about you. Why else would they spend the time talking to you? Smile, be polite and positive. Shake hands firmly and ask questions.
In my career, I've done a couple of stints at startups, and while I had to do many "petty tasks" (wash my own glassware, unpack chemicals, make buffers and fix old beat-up HPLC all by myself), I also learned a lot in the process and gained respect and broadened my professional network. Do you think your buddies who got the jobs at the "established" companies are going to help the C-executives run the place? I bet most of them will be running the copier and the coffee machine. At a startup, you might get to do much more - you just never know. We all have to start at the bottom of the food chain, and it is not such a bad thing when you get paid for it and keep growing professionally. Good luck to you, and let us know how it goes.</p>

7

<p>
[quote]
I'm not the best student. I'm not the most qualified.

[/quote]

firax:
You know as well as I do that if you're at Cal, you're no slouch. I don't know what you mean by 'not the best student' but if you're intelligent (which you know you are) and are willing to put in a good effort, you can do fine at an internship. </p>

<p>'BunsenBurner' is right - when you pursue any internship, job, lab position, etc., make sure you exude confidence. Even if you think you're not the 'best student', think about your accomplishments thus far.</p>

8

<p>"I think one of the concerns for me at working at a start up is that they will make me perform petty tasks."</p>

<p>This is likely to happen in any internship and is not a big deal. If all you get from the internship is a sense of what it is like to work at a start-up by observing other employees, you will have learned a lot. It is not at all necessary for you to know what you want to do at this point in your life. That is one of the purposes of an internship--to observe different work environments to help you decide these questions. I had an intern one summer who I told in his exit interview that the one thing he had learned was that he was not at all suited to our particular line of work (lacked the needed attention to detail) to which I think he agreed wholeheartedly. I know, however, that he went on to get an MBA and is doing fine in another field. It all works out. You are in the exploration phase of life. So enjoy.</p>

9

<p>As someone who is prone to negative thinking...all I can say is do your VERY best to break out of this feeling of lack of confidence. You're going to a great school and I assume you're doing reasonably well. You have a lot going for you!
Get a book to help you get in the right frame of mind...there are plenty motivational books available. Give it a try. Much of the life we live is in our head, and we can decide if it's good or bad. No big deal that you didn't get an internship with a big firm. Don't worry about your parents. FORCE yourself to be positive and keep looking. You can do it. And yes, a internship with a start-up is just fine. So is doing menial work if you have to. Hey I worked in a factory during one summer in college. Made me appreciate my education and work even harder to get what I wanted. Never had a fancy internship and I'm doing just fine. It's all what you make of it. Good luck!!</p>

10

<p>"For the past semester I've been actively seeking an internship, but without luck."</p>

<p>The economy isn't doing all too well currently and I've heard from lots of college and high school students that finding a job for summer has been impossible (including students who have had no problem finding jobs for years prior to this one and never expected to hit a year where finding employment wouldn't be easy). Have you read any books on interviewing? I've heard of some adults using these with great success, so you might want to at least take a peak at some in a library or something.</p>

<p>"Some large and well established companies offered to interview me but I didn't get past that stage (I get the vibe that my parents are solely disappointed despite them saying I tried my best)"</p>

<p>Try to put this in perspective. Five years from now, do you honestly believe your parents will give a rat's *ss about your not working for some big name company this summer? They will be fine, and you will be fine, so long as you don't get into a depression over this and realize it's not tragic - merely disappointing, and we all have disappointments - it's part of life.</p>

<p>"Is working at a start-up a good idea?"</p>

<p>Someone from our son's lab worked while in college with Blue Mountain Cards back when it was a start-up. He got to have a big time position and a nice resume from his experience there. I suspect he did better financially than most of his buddies who went to work for big name companies while in college; he was there from 1997 to 1999 and it sold for $780M in 1999. Never underestimate a start-up, though also realize that the start-up boom back when that guy was in a start-up went to start-up bomb soon after and it's a lot tougher to score big now. Start-ups are far riskier propositions for people with families to support than young people yet to settle down with a family, so you are at a perfect time in life to get some start-up experience.</p>

<p>"My friends keep telling me all the companies that have structured internship programs have been done hiring long ago, and now I am stuck with ones that either pay nothing or where you won't learn anything."</p>

<p>How much you learn will largely be up to you, just as with in college. If they only assign you stuff like making coffee, listen as people are getting coffee to what meetings might be interesting for later in the day and casually say, "That sounds like it could be interesting. Would you mind if I sat in?" You come up with good input during a meeting and you might find yourself soon having more interesting work.</p>

<p>How much do you need money this summer? My guess is that getting work experience you might be able to apply to a professional job down the road would be more valuable to you than a paycheck just now and again, now is likely a time where you can volunteer your time and you might not always be that fortunate. All the same, if you can get a job that both pays money and will teach you a lot, go for that over one that will do only one or the other.</p>

<p>"People keep asking me what my eventual career goals are, but I do not know! I think that is one of the problems I face."</p>

<p>Many employers do prefer someone with "direction" in life, but if you don't truly know what you want to do, don't BS just to see confident. Feel free to share that of a group of Honors College parents who spoke about what their college degree was in and what their career was as parents, only one (out of dozens) was in the same field as he trained in college but all were successful and felt having the college degree was helpful even not being in the field they had thought they would (and parents who were stay at home parents weren't even included in this). Point out that many successful people switch gears in life and what is important is to be flexible and adaptable (and if you feel you are those, point this out here).</p>

<p>"And I think my parents are really disappointed that I didn't get hired by the well established companies. I feel I am disappointing myself for not being able to find a job."</p>

<p>Just as your parents won't care in five years about this situation now, neither will you. Keep perspective. It's not like you've robbed a bank, cheated on a test and been tossed out of college, or whatever that could stay on your record for life and be long remembered as a major "I blew it that day" - you are trying hard and not getting lucky. Just persevere and you will find that in time, you make your own "luck" by doing just that. Life is a numbers game, but you have to stay in the game to win.</p>

<p>"All this is making life very sad and stressful, and at the same time I have to cope with the onslaught of finals. And I am losing motivation of doing well in school since it doesn't seem to be helping me to find a job. Is this sort of mentality abnormal? I feel really hopeless sometimes.."</p>

<p>It's quite normal. You are far from alone. Focus on the finals right now and get through that. Then return to focusing on getting a summer job, and if you can't get one, do some fun things over the summer, read some good books, and go back refreshed in the fall. Life is too short to sweat the small stuff, and big as this summer job business might seem to you, it's really small stuff in the overall picture.</p>

<p>Don't worry. Be happy.</p>

<p>My husband gave me a shirt that said that when I was worried about being able to see our last house in order to get into this one 20 years ago, and sure enough, we pulled it off (we were selling and buying without any realtors involved and I actually believe that made it <em>less</em> stressful, but that's another story). When my son moved away to graduate school at age 14, he made me an image of his lab building and put it on a banner with that message and I have it hanging in our kitchen. I really believe in that saying. Bobby McFerrin has it right.</p>

11

<p>Start-up companies are great places to learn and gain experience. I had my intership job at a start-up company. They let me work on a lot of things. Sometimes you don't learn much in a big company because of bureaucracy. I got my intership job from a campus job posting board in July of my junior year.</p>

12

<p>I scanned this thread and a few comments.
1. Start-up can be great. I would go for someting if offered.<br>
Everyone and I mean everyone has to do 'petty' tasks... go with the attitude that I am not too got to work !! Learn from everything you do .. copying --ask questions about what you are copying etc.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>You are at Cal , you know you have soemthign going embrace it.</p></li>
<li><p>I do truly know rejection is hard, but try and work past it... what is the difference in final result between these job searches</p></li>
</ol>

<p>YES or
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO YES</p>

<p>Result .. the same</p>

<p>Good luck lift your head!</p>

13

<p>Fireax,</p>

<p>A startup can be a great opportunity. How good your experience will be depends upon a lot of things, clearly... how big the company actually is, how well-run it is, how well funded it is, etc. etc. </p>

<p>However, do not just discount this opportunity just because it's a startup. Heck Oracle was a startup once, and so was Google.</p>

<p>Sometimes a startup can be small enough, and things can be fluid enough, that you end up wearing a number of different hats and can gain invaluable experience. And, who knows... there is always a chance (very small, statistically) that you're in on the ground floor of something big.</p>

<p>If this is your best opportunity, grab hold and give it everything you've got, and do your best to squeeze everything positive that you can out of it.
For this summer at least, you've got to do what you've got to do. And as others have mentioned (and I'm smack in the middle of Startup Central here in the Bay Area), it's a <em>real</em> tough job market right now. So DO NOT take personally what are actually widespread economic issues. Roll with it.</p>

<p>I would ask you to reassess your skills and goals as you go through the next few months -- are you actually in a major that you're really passionate about? Sometimes it's way too easy to proceed on a course that you <em>think</em> others want you on, without really being sure if that's what you, yourself, really want. And that can show in job interviews. I like to hire folks who are really excited about what they do. If that does not describe you, then you may want to think about what you really want to do with your major. Over the summer, give it some thought.</p>

14

<p>Hi everyone! Thank you so much for all the support that I have received--I really can't thank you for all the encouragement and tips you have given me (as a complete stranger over an online forum).</p>

<p>I just wanted to share some news with you all--after month after month of interviews that resulted in rejections, I have been offered a summer internship position at NASA! This was completely unexpected and I will take advantage of every moment while on the job!</p>

15

<p>So, it's true...it is always darkest right before dawn. Congratulations on your internship!</p>

16

<p>firax:</p>

<p>Sounds like a great opportunity and it'll be sure to be interesting. Congrats!</p>

17

<p>thanks!!! i just finished day two... it seems that i am the only department in the division i am interning at, and i get my own office :O</p>

<p>how do i network with the people i work with??</p>

18

<p>Go to lunch and coffee breaks with the staff. If they're good with interns someone should spend time with you during the day getting you set up and showing you the ropes.</p>

19

<p>p.s. i also have a problem of being a shy guy.. though one of the staff their says i am an intern so i have nothing to lose and should be vocal about what i feel about the projects i work on.</p>

20

<p>Usually people make an effort to take turns taking the intern to lunch. Just make sure you're available. </p>

<p>Not sure what the staff member means that you should be "vocal" about the projects you are working on. Vocal as in "I think this project sucks?" (Probably NOT a good idea)</p>

<p>If I were an intern at NASA, I'd want to talk with everyone to see what it is that they do and how they got to their position (education, job experience, etc.). There are lots of things to learn about people...</p>