Taking a lot of time off from internship/work

[The Liberal Media]

If your not in a great place at the moment with the death of your friend last night, then by all means tell them
Doubt they would hold that against you.

Take a bit of time off and enjoy the summer and start afresh in the fall, you wont seem like a quitter to any future employer and as you already stated your cv wont be affected.
Even the toughest fuckers who actually pay you are obliged to give you breathing space if you suffer some kind of close loss of someone. A gulag type placement should not be any different

I have seen people at investment banks work through family bereavements on spring weeks and summer internships and not take a single day of the holidays they were due just to impress people, literally I have seen people pass up funerals to work internships at banks because they want to be hired so badly

And many of them didnt get the jobs the next april.

 

[parttime crackhead]

That's the thing though - there wouldn't even be a blank in my CV. Basically whether I stop now or finish the summer I'm gonna write it down as 'summer 2013' in my CV anyway...this is purely regarding future employment opportunities with this agency/future contacts through them. Otherwise there isn't much point in me finishing, it's going to look good on my CV no matter what basically

If it doesn't really matter, and you're not getting paid, then patch it.

 

[One Thousand Words]

How long have you got to go? If its four weeks just explain you need an extra 2 weeks to sort yourself before uni starts. The suddenly closer finishing post might give you extra motivation to get through to the end. The fact you have already stayed longer than originally intended will still bode well but quitting without warning to me is a black mark.

If I had a choice between a gold star on my cv or a solid contact for a job I'd take the contact. I've gotten many jobs simply on who I know. Cv's can always be padded where as a good reference is more valuable.

 

[Doody OD]

I don't know Pagey, I have been thinking about this and tbh I can see both sides. When I eventually made it to college I was the most driven person in my course, I did something similar in terms of unpaid summer work and put in a lot of hours. A lot of things came together for me, a lot of it being connected to the amount of hard graft I put into things. It paid off in that I was working in my chosen area by the 3rd year of my degree, which in turn paid for my post-grad.

Now to be fair I worked very hard and I was also very very lucky, but I look at a lot of the lads I studied with the are doing well, despite the head start I got. A lot of my course could not get paid work in their area until after their post-grad.

So their is a part of me that says you just have to get on with it, but my point with the above is that although I got a head start with all the extra stuff I did, I would have still arrived roughly at the same place I am at today.

So taking into account, where you currently are, the death of your friend, and in another post if I remember correctly you spoke of some things from the past coming up for you recently. So if it was me I would say if you decide to finish up, that you used the time constructively and try to address the issues that are tiring you out, if that makes any sense.

 

[tambourine-man]

Grit your teeth and push on through.

 

[swampdragon]

Pagey, to me it sounds like you have the talent and potential to do well regardless of this internship.. I'd go with your gut instinct.

Maybe give them 2 weeks notice though, as One Thousand Words says? Just say you want to focus on your studies or something.

 

[swedger77]

Grit your teeth and push on through.

Its an internship not constipation.

 

[Pagey]

If it doesn't really matter, and you're not getting paid, then patch it.

Yeah. I'm having a bit of trouble finding motivation for something that miiight benefit me a bit more in a number of years considering it's already going to benefit me a lot...

How long have you got to go? If its four weeks just explain you need an extra 2 weeks to sort yourself before uni starts. The suddenly closer finishing post might give you extra motivation to get through to the end. The fact you have already stayed longer than originally intended will still bode well but quitting without warning to me is a black mark.

If I had a choice between a gold star on my cv or a solid contact for a job I'd take the contact. I've gotten many jobs simply on who I know. Cv's can always be padded where as a good reference is more valuable.

I've got until mid-september normally. But that's a good point, if I do decide to quit it would definitely look much better with warning. I guess if I ask them if I can finish towards mdi-august instead so I do have a little vacation that's still far enough in advance that they wouldn't hate me for it (hopefully) and it's true I would be more motivated to go on if the end date was nearer. Definitely going to think about that one, thank you

I don't know Pagey, I have been thinking about this and tbh I can see both sides. When I eventually made it to college I was the most driven person in my course, I did something similar in terms of unpaid summer work and put in a lot of hours. A lot of things came together for me, a lot of it being connected to the amount of hard graft I put into things. It paid off in that I was working in my chosen area by the 3rd year of my degree, which in turn paid for my post-grad.

Now to be fair I worked very hard and I was also very very lucky, but I look at a lot of the lads I studied with the are doing well, despite the head start I got. A lot of my course could not get paid work in their area until after their post-grad.

So their is a part of me that says you just have to get on with it, but my point with the above is that although I got a head start with all the extra stuff I did, I would have still arrived roughly at the same place I am at today.

So taking into account, where you currently are, the death of your friend, and in another post if I remember correctly you spoke of some things from the past coming up for you recently. So if it was me I would say if you decide to finish up, that you used the time constructively and try to address the issues that are tiring you out, if that makes any sense.

I'd agree with your last paragraph but I think the main problem is just that if I continue this internship, I won't be able to properly address my personal issues as they should be addressed, and that's why I'm afraid it would just send me into a proper downward spiral. So I suppose the question is is it worth spending the summer in a pretty horrible mental/emotional/physical state for a potentially useful contact later on? I mean I would power through it if it were just a matter of being bored at work or whatever but I'm afraid all this is just going to ruin my efforts to stop heroin, among other things; I mean I started crying ni the metro this morning ffs.
I dunno. Obviously I'd much rather focus on the 'real' problems right now but if I one day realise I messed up a massive opportunity I'm gonna hate myself. But I think 1KW's idea of just asking them if I can stop a bit earlier is actually really good, since it's much better than nothing and probably wouldn't bother them too much...

Pagey, to me it sounds like you have the talent and potential to do well regardless of this internship.. I'd go with your gut instinct.

Maybe give them 2 weeks notice though, as One Thousand Words says? Just say you want to focus on your studies or something.

Yes I think that was definitely a good suggestion on 1KW's part and if I do decide to quit I'll do it that way.
Honestly my gut instinct is that I simply don't have the motivation or physical/emotional strength to deal with this on top of everything else right now so yeah. Especially since I've recently stated a second job as well so on average I'm working about 12-13 hours a day (don't really want to quit that one though cuz it pays really well...)

Grit your teeth and push on through.

Its an internship not constipation.

:D

Thanks again

 

[tambourine-man]

Its an internship not constipation.

Sounds like a lot of effort with shit reward.

 

[pinkpapaver]

everything has been said here. Remember that whatever's for you won't go by you. A lot can happen in the space of a week, never mind a couple of years when you finish your degree, you may have other opportunities come your way.

You have to look after you. There is no point making yourself miserabel (although I personally have made that mistake many times, suffered through things out of stubborness and a need to see things thru till the end)

Decide what you want with this summer, the now, the present, do you want less hours/days, to finish a few weeks before term starts. Be honest with them as far as you can. It's all about finding the happy middle ground, or just the happy ground.

you are number 1, you're a youngster still nothing is final, everything is temporary and change is certain. Remember with coming off the gear it is very important to keep the old mind occupied though I know myself that when I'm running from one job to another with no time I'm quite susceptible to the devils talcum powder. Don't worry be happy lil lady Pagey :D

 

[RLP]

Stick it out.

If it was really grinding you down to the point where it was making you properly ill then there wouldn't even be a discussion to be had.

When I did graduate recruitment for my company I didn't really care on the length of placement if it was only short term - what I wanted to hear was skills developed, projects worked on, how they could use what they learned to get a head start in our business. If you stick around longer you can talk longer and in more detail about the things you've learned, you can gain more transferable skills and it shows you can ride the rough periods which is as vital as any skill.

I'm now in a position where I can headhunt directly, and if I need someone to a specific job I will usually give first preference to the people I've already worked with who I know can do a job. Quitting your internship early will in my opinion severely hamper your ability to land the job post graduation. Nothing on your ability to do the job, it's just a red light in the mind of the hiring manager. Who's to say you won't jack your job in post graduation if it gets tough?

Sticking at it if you can will benefit you in multiple ways. Will look better on your CV, it'll give you confidence at interviews, you'll make more business connections, you'll feel better yourself at the end of it for getting through it.

Your third option, which you haven't thought of, is talking to your manager, explaining the situation and asking for a few days off or hours which will help you get back on track, rather than a full out quit.

If you want to PM me about any of this feel free. This goes out to anyone with employment questions too.