Unpaid Internship
I just started an unpaid internship. Initially, I didn't really care that it would not be paid as I thought it would be a valuable learning experience plus it would look great on my resume( Investment Banking). I was told in the interview that I would learn a lot, and would not do any of the things Interns usually do ( Coffee runs, buying office supplies etc.)
I started the first day and thought I was going to start learning more about the industry. Well, I was wrong. My boss and his partner asked me to buy them slippers for the office, and cups/ sugar for the coffee. This took out a lot of time I was supposed to be learning. I was very angry, and I think they could tell. And I feel like this going to happen more times. This is my third internship and I did actual work and was treated very fairly, so I am not new to internships.
Now I have a couple of questions. I feel like I am going to quit because this I did not sign up to be exploited like this. But I want to leave this position on my resume because the position looks good and I did do some work and I don't want that to go to waste for nothing. So how long should I wait, and how should I tell my boss?
Dude, it was just the first day. Give it some time.
It's not my first day, I'm about to start the second week. I just used my first day as an example ( I'm there two days a week). I was told by the intern before me, that throughout his whole time there they made them buy and do things for their convenience, not relating to the internship at all. I didn't sign up for that.
Dude..come on. You can't really expect to learn that much on your first day, and as an intern you should expect to do work, even if they tell you that you won't, that's outside of your specified responsibilities.
Edit: Just saw your reply. If you truly don't think you're learning anything/doing work you were promised you'd be doing (although even just being one week in really isn't that much) try and communicate to them in a normal manner that you're excited to take on some projects and tasks.
Thanks for the advice, this is my first investment banking internship. So like I said I do want to have it for a while so I can leave it on my resume. But if it doesn't change, what do you suggest I do?
Are you doing this part time with classes or full time?
Part-time, while being a full-time student.
If they were paying you, they would feel an obligation to teach you something useful/give you useful tasks in order to make sure you contribute more than they're giving you in salary.
This is exactly why I don't trust unpaid internships, especially in finance.
I see that, my past 2 internships were both paid and in finance. I was given actual work and they didn't give me tasks like to go buy them utensils.
Exactly!
Great point. They are invested in your success when they're paying you!
Having an IB internship is something that will benefit you for future internships/employment. At the end of the day you are paying your dues to get a full time position. Yes, ideally the internship would be actually doing something to help you but just the opportunity to have that on your resume is value to you. Try to politely request them to give you some work or something to learn after you finish doing whatever XYZ bullshit task coffee run type thing they have you do.
Thanks for the advice. I know it will benefit me, that is why I'm willing to stay at least for a little over a month. This internship is not geared into a full-time position, and I wouldn't want to work there full time regardless. These XYZ bullshit tasks literally take hours out of my workday. I have asked but nothing really comes out except some financial lessons they tell me. It's pretty frustrating.
Went through this exact experience my sophomore year of undergrad. Unpaid internships are a curse but a blessing at times, you need to ask yourself "Is this going to help me". For me the question was simple, I came from a non-target state school and had an average GPA so this internship experience was my only choice at the time. I carried many cases of water up flights of steps and even redid my bosses high school highlight tape (dude sucked). I also went in there and asked as many questions as possible on a daily basis in order to at least gain some knowledge in-between my brutal cold calls. That unpaid internship on my resume helped lead me into a great role my Junior year.
Do you mind letting me know how you described that internship experience on your resume?
No problem, I basically mentioned how I worked alongside brokers in order to further develop skills in proper security selection, Analyzed and broke down company financials while also monitoring market activity on a daily basis.
So...you run errands for the guys a couple days per week in exchange for getting to say you interned for an investment bank while in school? It sounds like a good trade to me.
The reason you're doing the internship is to get a name on your CV. If you didn't think you needed the line item on your resume, you wouldn't be there. But it sounds like you do need it. And since it's just your second week there (at two days per week, that makes this your 4th day), I'd suggest you stop being a whiny little bitch. I got coffee and tea for people for a year as a trader after I had a master's degree from a top target school and was a full-time employee. You're going to do a lot more bitch work in your early years. I'd suggest you get used to that idea.
It takes effort to teach you something. It sounds like you need to convince them to do that. Right now, you're actually helping them the way an assistant might. If in another month, they haven't taught you anything, you can suggest you have midterms coming up, and that you need to focus on your studies. That way, you can leave the experience on your CV without burning any bridges.
If you leave now or have a bad attitude when asked to do menial tasks, you definitely shouldn't keep the name on your resume. It doesn't take a lot of effort for someone to call your former employer when they're the only bullet point on your CV in the industry you're attempting to break into.
Sometimes I wonder if people actually read the comments. I said in the previous comments I am willing to stay for a while to leave it on my resume. But I refuse to stay the whole duration of this internship ( Five months), like the other kids who interned there and learned nothing. I have absolutely no problem doing bullshit tasks for them, but I do expect to learn, I'm not being a " whiny little bitch". I am going to be paying an estimated $50 a month for transportation expenses, $250 in total is a lot of money for a college student. I simply want to make sure I wont waste my money and time like the past interns. And plus I feel like you completely missed the part where I wrote I already had 2 finance internships.
Haha what do you think I did for my first year lol?
Coffee for everyone, cleaned the conference room to make sure presentable before meetings, got MD's shoes polished, picked up laundry, etc etc etc
You sound like a nightmare. You started complaining after 4 days about a hypothetical. After 4 days you're wondering if it's worth your time or money. My God, man--your attitude sucks. You're not likely to learn much. You're only there 2 days per week. You're helping out around the office in exchange for an experience you can list on your CV. That's it. They're not going to train you. They have no reason to do so. And it sounds like you knew this was going to be the case when you spoke with the previous intern.
I mean--if I were to hire an analyst, and they started complaining within the first 4 fucking days that I wasn't teaching them enough, and that they didn't see this experience being worth their time, I'd definitely fire them. You sound like a whiny little bitch.
Man I’m in a similar situation as OP where I’m being given unpaid shit work totally unrelated to IB with a tiny bit of IB sprinkled in between. It’s unpaid too, but the hours a decent and I’m only a fall semester sophomore (semester internship), so I know this will help me a lot even if I don’t learn jack shit.
I’m keeping a screenshot of your comment to remind me of that whenever I have to deal with my bosses BS.
I have done 3 unpaid internships, 2 of which led to full-time job offers. (still trying to find out on the third)
Get all of your BS intern work done during working hours, spend as much time as you can shmoozing analysts and anyone else you can get a conversation with, and stay late every day so when something important does come up, you have the bandwith to complete it.
Whats the worst that can happen? You get to browse WSO because there's no work for you? If they like you (especially the younger guys with too much work on their plates themselves), they'll throw you a bone and give you the opportunity to wow someone. If not, stay throughout the internship and leave at the end of the period so you at least have something in IB on your CV.
Snowflakes these days...
We have a good family friend who owns a series of car dealerships on the east coast, he makes millions of dollars a year so naturally his son wanted to join the business too. When his son graduated from college he showed up to his fathers dealership and said, "Hey dad, Where's my office?" True story, his dad handed him a mop and said you'll start off by cleaning the showroom floor, and next month you'll move up to detailing the cars in the lot. Slowly you'll work your way up until you fully understand the business from the bottom up.
Moral of the story being, fetch that coffee subservient!
Personal note: It's easier to quit than work to solve a really complex problem, but at some point in life you'll realize quiting is a lot like masturbation in the end you're really just screwing yourself.
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