<p>So I decided to give this an internship a try even though I wasn't really that excited about it. What I knew about it initially was that...
- I was going to be working for a very small company (5 people total)
- I'd be working on a website (I'd be infinitely more pleased with working on software but work is work I suppose).<br>
- I'd be working for free, which really doesn't bother me at all unless..</p>
<p>I gave it a shot for winter break, but at least to me it showed to be a waste of time and that I should quit soon. In terms of people programming, it was driven solely by interns who did not know any of the languages and appeared to have no intention of learning it. During winter break, two of the four interns already quit. I actually bothered learning the necessary languages and at the moment I am the only one actually making any progress on the website.</p>
<p>So here's my dilemma, should I quit?
Reasons to work
- Work experience is always good and this internship served as a way to motivate me to work for hours upon hours coding.
- I'm the only one really left that's part of the team. If I quit now, I really screw them over.
- Connections.
- Recommendations.
- Get to see aspects outside of software development in a company. Sort of at least. Programmers meet once a week to talk about what needs to be done by next week. We get to hear about these decisions, but never actually see the other people.</p>
<p>Reasons not to work
- Web development is certainly something I don't want to work in.
- Since I'm already doing the work alone, I can be working for myself rather than for someone else.
- Also since I'm working alone I'm doing a good amount of work, perhaps enough to conflict with schoolwork when it starts.
- No hired professionals for programming. In the end am I really learning anything I couldn't have by myself? Plus the idea of working for free for someone like this is ridiculous. It seems pretty obvious that he just wants to get this website up as cheaply as possible by relying on a team of interns who are unpaid.</p>
<p>I am an adult. You are not getting any training or getting paid for doing the work. Why don’t you find out if they would be willing to pay you, even $10-15/hour would be a bargain for them. If not, then tell them that you need to get a job that pays. You have worked there enough to put it on your resume. The only reason we work at a place we don’t like is because we get paid a lot of money for doing it. You are not. You would be better off to hang out with some friends and have some fun at your age.</p>
<p>I’m not an adult, so I can’t say a ton on the topic, but I have been through a few internships. It would be worthwhile either if you were getting paid or had someone with experience guiding you. Otherwise, you’re pretty much driving to a cubicle, sitting down, and self-studying for free. It’s smarter to either find somewhere that actually cares about you enough to pay/teach or else just go where you want to in order to study.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. As this was my first internship, I didn’t really know what to expect and I didn’t want to leave just to see that this was what all internships were like.</p>
<p>I can assure you that not all internships are like this. I take interns, we have very structured training and mentoring, and we pay. My daughter has done both paid and non-paid internships. Only one has turned out worthless, but she was only there for one month and it’ll good on her resume.</p>
<p>If you can’t get a good internship, you would be better of in spending your time on an EC that’s relative to your area of study, work with a professor, or just a leadership role within your college.</p>
<p>Skuzzy~Adult here.
You did not mention what period of time you committed to intern for. Did you agree to winter break, and then review the experience as to whether you wanted to stay longer-or-as long as you both agreed this was a working relationship-or-a specific time-say 6 months-or? Honoring commitments shows you have business ethics, and is a factor going forward, IMHO.
If you do not have a specific time frame agreement, then oldfort brings up good suggestions.
G’Luck~APOL</p>
<p>We haven’t had interns in a while but I do recall the last one. He was given training in our development environment and had access to the engineers. We actively worked on making him feel welcome by inviting him to lunch, doing outside activities, etc. I don’t know what the pay was but I’d guess around $18 an hour.</p>
<p>I’ve seen a lot of web internships advertised lately, some paid and some unpaid. If you’re a CS major interested in engineering or research, then you might look around for something more serious. It sounds like some companies are taking advantage of students in this tough economy.</p>
<p>Internships always look good on your resume and you can always list the skills you’ve learned from the job. But on the other hand, if you are in a field that you’re not gonna pursue after school, its probably more ideal if you find one that can help transition you out into that career. The internship should be a place where you’re learning the skills that you’ll need in the future both technically and organizationally.</p>