Help me help me

July 10, 2008 12:29 PM

How do I survive this internship?

Over the last 12 months I have been doing a *lot* of work on creating a final version of my PhD thesis; I submitted the final version 2 weeks ago, spent another week in the lab and one week preparing to come to Mountain View for an internship (CSs will guess where).

Now, I'm here, I've been here 2 full "working" days and already I'm feeling drained and bored and can't just be bothered :( -- NOT a good start for somebody who is seriously thinking of making it full time __and__ who is using this as a personal indicator of whether he's good enough to hack it in the real world.

I am feeling drained, intimidated, crabby, apathetic and generally have NO enthusiasm for what I'm doing. Doesn't help that my project doesn't seem to have a clear idea of what I can do.

I need some pointers on surviving the next 12 weeks, seriously, how can I recharge my batteries just enough to keep going to the end and make a generally ok impression?

posted by gadha to grab bag (11 comments total)

Give yourself some adjustment time - 2 days is nothing.
posted by Penelope at 12:37 PM on July 10, 2008

Give yourself two weeks. I'd bet my paycheck you will feel infinitely better by then. Any new working environment, especially that one, takes some time getting used to. In a few days you will know where the bathroom is, how good is 'good enough', what emails you should reply to / skim / skip /delete.

A few years ago I had a similar situation. The first few days felt like my face was getting press against a grinding stone or something... horrible. But, the week after was pretty good, and the 2nd week it was great.
posted by Spurious at 12:54 PM on July 10, 2008

Also, internships are especially tough in the beginning because the people you are working for/with might not have much idea of what to do with you, and/or they will wait to see how you handle the first couple menial tasks before they give you anything substantial/interesting to do. Also, it might take a while to set up all your e-mail/programs/phone/desktop stuff in order to be fully functional. We just hired an intern that started on 6/27, and only now is he really getting into the swing of things. He also only just got a phone yesterday. Though I'm in finance, so YMMV.

Good luck, and stick with it for at least another week or two before you despair!
posted by Grither at 12:57 PM on July 10, 2008

I agree with the advice above. There is always an adjustment period when beginning a new job or internship.

If after 2 weeks, you still have little idea of what's going on, you might want to go a supervisor and ask how you can help out.
posted by reenum at 1:03 PM on July 10, 2008

Please don't go using an internship as a metric of the Entire Rest of Your Real Life; you'll put yourself through a lot of shit and be even more miserable than you are now. Relax and remind yourself that you're taking the summer to be useful to some nice folks who might or might not be useful to you later on down the line. Take the time to get your desk set up and your email organized and so on now, and next week, start nosing around to find something to do. Get to know your officemates. Bring in Krispy Kremes (the nearest KK store to you is on Rengstorff). Show them that you're there to help.

Also, Sono Sushi at 357 Castro (the main drag of "downtown" Mountain View) is a great sushi place. You should drag a few fellow interns down there and kick back some night. It's conveyer-belt, but it was damn fine when I lived there eight years ago. I think the awesome Mexican place up near the old SGI campus is gone now, sadly, but you should think about spending some time with your officemates socially-- it definitely helps lighten the "oh my God, what have I just done, moving out here to engage in serfdom" factor.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 1:31 PM on July 10, 2008

I'm finishing up an internship (only it's called a "supervised field experience practicum"). The first few weeks are ALWAYS the hardest. I love my work and my supervisor now, but it did take me a couple of weeks to really find my feet. Don't give up after just two days!

Take the attitude that this is a learning experience where you will forge connections and get your feet wet on the job - this isn't a trip to Disneyland. Be friendly and cheerful to all you meet. Ask questions, observe, and listen, listen, listen. Take advantage of the downtime to get to know the company better - study the organizational chart, look around the company intranet, read some training materials or news clippings.

Ask for work; don't wait for it to come to you. After a few weeks on the job, observing and learning, you will be better placed to take on something new or even make up a project that will be useful.

Gut it out through the "newbie blues." It does get better, I promise.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 2:06 PM on July 10, 2008

If you're where I assume you are, I'd add a couple of things to what other folks have said (mostly, give it time). This is based on stories from friends, not my own experience, so take it with a grain of salt.

The bad news is that lack of structure and focus is normal, and you may well not be handed a project that is both coherent and matches your skillset / interests. The *good* news is that it's a place where a certain amount of personal initiative is expected and usually rewarded. You should have a talk with your main contact about this and hash it out relatively quickly -- but I would also do a little internal research as well -- comb the internal wiki / people directory / mailing lists / whatever the kids are using these days to find folks who are working on things in your area (or who came form your program!) Find them, hunt them down, and volunteer some time and effort on what their doing. Some of these contacts won't pay off -- but I'll bet some of them do.

Also, DUDE. You just finished your thesis? Cut yourself *some* slack. Go have some fun this weekend and look at it with fresh eyes on Monday.

Oh, and enjoy the food. Srsly. And Dana Street coffee = the bomb.
posted by feckless at 2:36 PM on July 10, 2008

nthing "wait it out." I've just passed the halfway mark of my internship this summer, and I felt the drained, overwhelmed and lack-of-direction you are describing for about the whole first week. Making it through each of the first few weeks felt like a huge accomplishement. I didn't get how people spent every week of the entire year with a 9-5 schedule (it's my first "real" job).
That feeling has largely passed. 5 o'clock comes before you realize it once you actually get down to work. Also, for the first couple weeks, you wonder how you will spend your time. For the rest of the summer, you wonder how you'll finish the huge project in front of you in time.

Also, DUDE. You just finished your thesis? Cut yourself *some* slack. Go have some fun this weekend and look at it with fresh eyes on Monday.
seconding that too.
posted by milestogo at 3:26 PM on July 10, 2008

I want to third feckless - you are probably mentally and physically and emotionally exhausted from holding everything together to get your thesis finished and get yourself out to CA. You have going all out on really important project for 12 months and now it is finally over. All of your symptoms could be explained just as a post-stress reaction without adding in the internship issues. (Personally, I always got gruesome migraines the weekend after finals - same thing, different symptom.

I would suggest a spa this weekend or a hike in some of our beautiful redwood forests - anything that will let you clear your mind and relax your body. Take care of yourself. And if you need to call in sick and make it a three day weekend, that would be a legitimate use of a sick day to my way of thinking.
posted by metahawk at 5:04 PM on July 10, 2008

Two days in and you're distressed because you're bored? Yeah, boredom sucks, but into every life, and all that. The problem with too many PhD.s is that they've worked so hard they've forgotten what drives higher education: Alcohol, weed, and sex. Dude, shift gears and have fun before you're too old to enjoy it. feckless, et alii, are dead on, but I'd suggest that with a PhD you should be better qualified to get drunker, higher, and nekkider than those undergrads...
posted by phrits at 6:29 PM on July 10, 2008

I interned there too, twice, and the second time was actually really unpleasant (and got worse as the summer went on). You may just be in a group that's a bad fit. It may not get better. Not all internships are paradise, no matter where you are or what you're doing. This isn't a reflection on you or your manager or your group or the company - whether you're enjoying this position at this place has very little to do with whether you can "hack it". Period. People like to think it's this paradise where everyone is in their perfect job, frolicking through code and eating free food all day. The free food is true, but it's very possible not to be in your perfect job there and there is nothing wrong with that.

The good news is, 12 weeks is nothing. If you loathe those 12 weeks, you don't have to stay past them and you can find a job someplace else that's more your style. You've been a student for the last several years - surely you know you can put up with anything for a semester.

And, yeah, odds are you'll start liking it better soon enough. If you don't, there are plenty of other places to work, and they will all be super stoked you picked them over your previous employer. Trust me on this one.

Sit back, read some misc, and enjoy the ride. Memail me if you want to have someone come for lunch :)
posted by crinklebat at 8:30 PM on July 10, 2008