<p>It looks like I have been terminated from my job. I was in Chicago Friday Sunday for a prestigious business-industry conference. I didnt get home until 1am, went to sleep at 2am, woke up at 5am, had a 7am dentist appointment and headed straight to work. I basically only had 2 hours of sleep. While I was doing my work with my supervisor, fatigue ultimately took its toll on me. While I was reading some documents for my supervisor, I accidentally fell asleep on my desk. The vice president of the company was doing his walk-through to study the production of his employees and spotted me. He brought me into another room, and told me that he has to terminate me (even though the internship ends in four days) because he must maintain high ethical standards for the company. Sleeping on the job is a cardinal sin, he preached. While he understood that I was at a great opportunity in Chicago, he must lead and discipline employees.</p>
<p>So, I have to tell my supervisor, who will be very livid (Im updating the database and everything for him) that today is my last day and will probably fight to keep me here until Friday, the end of the internship. The vice president told me that if I was really tired, I should have taken this day off (my mother forced me to go to work today.)I didnt fight or make any excuses with the vice president. I will just have to leave, and my supervisor has to finish with whatever I was left out, even though he has two major projects due by Wednesday. The vice president told me to look at this as a learning experience. What have I done .</p>
<p>"The vice president told me to look at this as a learning experience. What have I done ."</p>
<p>You really didn't do anything wrong and it is a learning experience. The VP is being a real ..., but you will have to deal with these types throughout your college career and life.</p>
<p>I empathize with your situation. All I can do is also say that it's important to learn from this experience. Yes, sleeping on the job is a cardinal sin. It is best to take a day off if one is in the situation that you were in. Now, you know that. It's far better that this happened on an internship while you are still young and expected to make mistakes than that it had happened later on in your life, where what you'd done could be fatal to your job prospects. </p>
<p>One important thing to keep in mind: You are now an adult. It's time to follow what your gut tells you. Consequently, you, not your mom (despite her being caring and experienced in the work world) needs to make your decisions about when you go to work. </p>
<p>You probably can use the phone or Internet to help your supervisor with the projects. You won't be paid for this assistance, but it would be the right thing to at least offer to do. At the very least, send your supervisor a memo with the info that you have and what needs to be done.</p>
<p>Northstarmom, based on your adcom experience, what is your suggestion to tenisghs regarding listing the internship on a resume or application, or communicating the experience during an interview? Is it better not to mention the internship at all or to go ahead and include it? How might an adcom evaluate a candidate in this situation?</p>
<p>I think that she needs to list it because if she doesn't, it's likely that people will find out that she worked it. The world is indeed very small.</p>
<p>I think that she needs to take full responsibility for what happened, and let prospective employers know that she has learned a tough lesson. </p>
<p>Taking responsibility means admitting that falling asleep was unacceptable, and admitting that she had other alternatives: taking a day off from work (which she also could have arranged to do well in advance. Presumably, it wasn't a surprise that she got home so late after being at an out of town convention); leaving the convention in time to get home at a decent hour (most conventions that I have gone to end early on Sundays anyway, so most people can make it home in time to be able to go to work Mon. refereshed).</p>
<p>She also could have not gone to the convention at all if there was any chance that it would interfere with her work. </p>
<p>Although she's now off payroll, she also needs to do whatever she can to finish the project so that her boss isn't left holding the bag because of her irresponsibility. She may be able to do this work from home and e-mail it to her boss.</p>
<p>If she discusses the situation as I describe, I think that interviewers might view her as a young woman who has learned an important lesson, and therefore would be a solid employee or student.</p>
<p>You can take time off from an internship? I thought students had to complete a certain number of hours during a semester/summer session for it??</p>
<p>You can ask for sick days, time off for a conference, etc. It's up to the company and its policy about whether to grant it. Typically one doesn't get paid for such days if one is an intern.</p>
<p>I have had no problem getting unpaid days off for travel surrounding events I have planned prior to the start of my positions. As long you know in advance and you plan things it is usually not a problem.....sick days etc. are generally expected to be unpaid as an intern.</p>
<p>I think you are referring to program specific ie PsyD has so many clinical hours required. Registered Dietitian has required clinical hours....other than that it may be a Co-op program where you school for so many sememsters and work for so many semesters. Most kids who refer to internships are working at a firm and putting in hours FT/PT and getting paid......no benefits generally but getting paid and they have a start/end date but no requirement for the amount of time.</p>
<p>Oh. I know some students have to do student teaching internships or other internships but their department places them somewhere to do it. So they don't actually have to do anything to get hired. The department just puts them somewhere. They get credit for it by taking a class with it and doing papers for the class and stuff.</p>
<p>An internship, in my eyes, is a "take it or leave it" sort of deal. You get no real benefits -- you are paid for what you show up for and aren't expected to show up, but you can very easily be terminated.</p>
<p>Some internships are basically like professional jobs. You get benefits, including health insurance, paid holidays, the same pay that you'd get if you were a permanent employee. Such internships tend to be tryouts for permanent employees, and one is definitely expected to show up and to perform well. </p>
<p>Indeed, people who end up getting permanent jobs from internships tend to be the people who not only show up, but work unpaid overtime, create additional productive work for themselves, and do lots of extra things to lighten the load of the professional staff.</p>
<p>Even internships that aren't paid are tryouts for professional jobs. Depending on the field, hundreds of excellent students might apply for unpaid internships, and the successful candidates work extremely hard, including putting in many hours more than what they are expected to work.</p>
<p>Companies may turn a blind eye to interns who do less than expected. That's because it takes the valuable time of their professional employees to supervise and to admonish interns who aren't pulling their weight. It can be cheaper to let a slacker intern stay than to give them feedback about improving. However, slacker interns won't get good recommendations and won't be offered permanent jobs.</p>
<p>They'll be told nicely that no jobs are available while meanwhile positions are created for the hard working interns.</p>
<p>Why did you wake up at 5? Why not 6:30? Why didn't you drink alot of coffee? Did you REALIZE you were sleeping and do it anyway? I'm very disappointed in your decision.</p>