Internship

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Hi just wanted to get some advice really.

I have been interviewed for various jobs but fail at the final hurdle mainly due to experience.

Anyway I went to one interview and the MD of the company said he liked me and said come in.

It turns out everyone in the company is on short term contracts, usually 4 weeks.

Anyway I have been working for almost two weeks and I am not getting paid and no expense's. I have to commute almost an hour not to mention park the car.

Thing is I havent and am not really learning Im basically just sitting on the computer surfing the net.

I ask the MD about things but he is very busy or out the office. I try to work autonomously but I am not being given tasks.

Should I leave and just take the experience and put it down on my CV?

 

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As you have already said, all you are doing is sitting on a computer and surfing the net, so what experience would you put down for this unpaid job that you are currently holding?

 

It might look awkward on a CV if you have a two week internship, however it is better than a blank space. At the same time, no employer has the right to abuse your time, particularly if it is unpaid. Ditch it, I would be inclined to say. Or ask for/demand more work first, and if that is not forthcoming, then ditch it. Be careful with your benefits though, if you would ordinarily receive them. Find out how they would be affected if you were to "resign"

 

Thats very true but the fact I was at this company would be worthy of me putting it on my CV. As for the tasks that would be generic things I guess.

- - - Updated - - -

I just kind of think Im here but for no reason. The only benefit is being on the computer has allowed me to apply for loads of jobs! Trying to use my time efficiently.

I most likely will tell him its not working out, the guy is not a bad guy but the company has little to no organisation. If I owned a company and a person is coming this far I would organise it.
I bet if I was on a salary there would be a task list!

 

If you're not salaried then you're not really tied into any contract so there shouldn't be any come back.

I would go when you want to go and as far as the CV is concerned?? it's two weeks work, if I were you I would just leave it off rather than explain that you didn't think it was exactly beneficial you being there.

 

1. Its not an internship worth having if you are not supervised, trained or given any useful experience.

2. Its not a job if it doesn't pay.

The only plus point might be the reference if you could afford to stay long enough..
There is a minimum wage for a reason, and its supposed to stop exploitation of labor in bad labor markets.
Any position held for less than a month isn't worth adding to your CV in general.
Spending your own money to subsidize someone else's business when you are getting nothing in return seems unreasonable. I would have thought you would be better off saving that money and putting it towards your own training.
It also complicates the matter of any benefits you may be entitled to, while I'm not a fan of dependency culture, its better to be on benefits than being in a fake internship.

Only you can decide if it is a genuine internship, its not uncommon for some employers to be fairly lax at tasking new hires sometimes. I would raise the issue politely with your boss and mention you are keen to be working on something.

Contract work is for professionals with a sought after skill set that are sought on a short term basis, its not temping, unpaid internships, slave labor etc.

I have been a professional IT contractor for 8 years, normally contracts run for 3 or 6 months and pay above a similar permanent role.

Short temporary work is generally called temping and more closely resembles what you describe with 4 week rotations. Some employers use it to deny their employees normal employment rights and hold wages low.

 

Thanks very much, I have spoken to other people and they say similar things.

My attitude is I would rather be working than staying at home, and Im not one for being dependant on people (although my parents are a different matter )

But I do feel like I am not adding value to the business. The thing is I have been told I have missed out due to my lack of experience and work based skills so I kind of thought this would be the best case.

Im going to speak to him and see where we go from here because I am not even getting expenses at the moment thats the problem.

 

good luck with the disccusion, i think you need to be honest and just explain what you want out of this and see if they will offer you it... make sure that any offers are put in writing though as i have found too many times that offers not in writing are just ways of keeping you happy and getting morale up with no actual plan for it to happen.