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Internship Woes - Long
Okay, so I've done an unpaid internship for 10 months now. At the 9 month mark, I applied for a job they had an opening for. I didn't get the job, so I decided I was going to leave. Not out of spite though; I had decided to take a full load of credits with one of the classes being computer programming (a class for which I had no knowledge base; bad idea) and my actual job had decided to increase my hours. So, here I was doing 25-ish hours of work, a full time student, 6 hours a week at my internship and I was newly married - I was overloaded! So, I told them that I needed to leave and explained the situation to which I was told that if I wanted a good letter of recommendation I would stay on until the end of the quarter.
This was BS because I hadn't been taking credits or getting paid for any of the internship and now they were telling me that my one reason for doing the internship was resting on me sacrificing my grades to stay on. Plus, I looked it up and the work they have me doing is technically illegal free labor. But hey, I had put in 9 months so I decided to stick it out for another 2 months doing just 3 hours a week there so that I could get my letter of recommendation.
Now, a girl from my internship told me today that they offered her a job. They didn't tell anyone else, so no one could apply for it - they are just offering it to her. So, let me get this straight - I'm good enough to do free labor for you but not good enough to get a job? Because the way it stands right now, since I have been there they have filled 2 job positions and now they are offering her a job. Not to mention, the girl being offered the job and the girl who got the first job both had less seniority than me (one by ~2 months and the other by ~5 months).
I am a good intern! They are always talking about what great work I do and how I go above and beyond, how they give me things when they need to know that it will get done and get done right. Not to mention that I have 5 years of working with the company I work at right now. It is not in the same field, but doesn't that show that I am a dependable employee?
I am just frustrated. My current boss says I should report them to the department of labor for having an internship program that does not meet the governments guidelines for what an internship is. But then I lose my letter of recommendation and I end up punishing the whole company for their business managers poor hiring/employee relations. There is no HR in this company and to complain I'd have to go straight to the CEO, but the CEO and the guy who is hiring people and waiving my letter of recommendation in front me are good friends.
I'm just so frustrated! I've put in almost a year there at this point and all for what? I can either let them walk all over me and get the letter of recommendation or I tell them how I feel and, most likely, sacrifice the letter.
Thanks for letting me vent girls! I just really want to get into grad school and this internship is not helping anything!
Re: Internship Woes - Long
I agree, see if there is someone else that can write you a letter of rec that isn't one of the managers.
Sorry that you're stuck in that position.
Like bigvoice said, letters of recommendation do not have to be from a manager, just someone who knows your work habits and style and has known you for at least a year. Since you have put in 9 months there, it sounds like almost anyone could write the letter for you.
Also, have you told the managers about your work ethic and that you are dependable and a good worker and that you wouldn't mind working for them full time? Maybe they're not offering you the paying job because you told them you wanted to leave earlier so in their mind, they're thinking there's no point in offering it to you because you're just going to up and leave once school starts. Although the fact that you're not even getting credits for it sounds fishy to me. I would ask someone at your school about that.
GL with the situation. I hope everything works out!
Thanks for the support everyone. I will definitely try to get a letter from someone else at the company, but they are all friends with this guy and he made a very clear point of saying "I write the letters of recommendation around here." So I doubt anyone will stand against him and do it for me. I guess I stick it out with a smile on my face and hope he gives me a good letter.
I told them in my interview for the first job that I am ready to leave what I am doing now and commit myself to a job that is more in line with what I want to do in the future (clinical psychology). And I also told them that I plan to take at least a year off before graduate school, probably more like 2, so they know that I am willing to be a long-term employee.
I wasn't taking credit for it because I am paying for my own school and I figured the experience/letter of rec was the most important part anyways so I didn't want to pay for the credits on my transcript as well. I asked my advisor about the way they were treating me and she said that's just the way life is. She said she won't recommend them to people for an internship anymore but that there is nothing I can do about them essentially blackmailing me into staying.
That's bullcrap! If "that's just the way life is," then why won't they recommend anyone else for it? Sounds like they know it's crap and you just happen to be stuck with it.
Well, if you're willing to make the most of the time you have left with them, then definitely make the most of it and make sure you get your letter and then RUN!