should I give up this internship?

[shadowplay]

I have two unpaid film production internships at the moment for the remainder of the summer. One has been pretty fruitful, the other not so much.

 

The worse one seemed promising at first because I had more opportunities to do cool things since it's a small startup that really needs a lot of help. At first I was putting in a ton of work. But about two months in my interest waned for a few reasons.

 

One was I began to feel like nobody cared if I was even there or noticed the work I was doing. The girl who had hired me, who was very supportive, decided to quit. Then this guy who had been hostile to me from the start came along and redid from scratch an edit I had spent a huge amount of time on (not even improving it really). He later made it clear that he would probably undermine anything I did. He told me out of the blue he had decided not to follow a post production script I wrote for another piece.

 

Part of the problem was because I wasn't there full time, and because they had different interns coming in every day of the week, I felt like a cog in the machine.

 

Also, the company seemed to be sinking because it was running out of money and had a terrible business model (in my opinion). Plus a lot of the people there kind of rubbed me the wrong way.

 

Working there was also stealing time away from my other internship as well as other things I needed to do. So about three weeks ago I kind of stopped going and nobody even seemed to notice or care.

 

I just spoke with a producer from the place, one of the only people who seemed to appreciate my work. She told me that she and a bunch of other people were laid off a few weeks ago.

 

Now I'm not sure whether to just drop the internship entirely or to try going back in.

 

What's holding me back from officially quitting is the fact that I get cool experience out of it (like video editing and script writing). I also want to be able to put it on my resume, which I don't feel like I'll be able to do if I just quit compltely. But then again it's kind of a time drain. I should also mention that last week they hired me for the day to work as an assistant editor for a few hours. I was paid twenty dollars an hour, but ended up doing nothing because there was some miscommunication between my supervisors about the time I was supposed to be there. So it's possible more opportunities like that might come along if I stay with them.

 

Then again I have a lot on my plate. I have to focus on preparing for school in the fall, find housing for that, find a job there, work on this online business thing that I've neglected for awhile (but has brought in some dough in the past).

 

I just feel sad about putting all this effort into something and then getting nothing out of it.

 

What do you guys think?

[Ronni_W]

I just feel sad about putting all this effort into something and then getting nothing out of it.

But your post also contains PLENTY that you do get out of it.

 

Perhaps do a list of pros and cons, and assess the "off-sets". It is also about what you want and need out of life right now. For example, does adequate time/energy win out over the hassles you're experiencing; does getting to edit videos and write scripts compensate for the hassles and for having to make time to get ready for school, etc.

Hopefully such a list can help you arrive at a decision that'll best suit your own desires and preferences.

 

A separate issue is the type of reference you are creating for yourself by just not showing up for three weeks -- could be negative consequences if you do list it on your resume, and potential future employers contact this organization.

It likely is an "old fashioned" work ethic on my part but, IMO, just going AWOL like that (whether paid or unpaid work) says more about one's own sense of self and responsibility than the work environment with which one must cope ~ my two cents, if it is even worth that much .

[curiousnycgirl]

The true value internships bring to people is a foundation for a career. If you stay and work well, you will be able to count on those people for referrals for years. If you just up and quit, you can count on them having nothing good to say about you for the same time period.

 

While the above is not set in stone, it's pretty standard.

[stefspets]

I would look at this from a personal rather than business perspective: what's best for your well-being right now?

 

It didn't sound like you were happy there, and you've already been gone for three weeks. I wouldn't go anymore if I were you, either. You've basically "quit" already; it's been weeks since you've been there.

 

Why would you want to list this job on your resume if no one that still works there ever supported you? Whether you stay and work, quit, or just not go, it doesn't sound like anyone who still works there would be able to give you a good reference, as the person who hired you and others that supported you are no longer there. Is the other internship going well? Why not focus on that one, so that you can list it on your resume feeling good about what you did there?

 

This is just a summer thing--the other things you have to take care of are for the future and are more long-term. The other internship is giving you experience so you're not completely missing out on that by leaving the first one.

[sb129]

I wasn't aware you can just "leave things out" of resumes if they don't count.

 

I think that internships are designed to give you experience of the real working world. They show that you are prepared to work at the bottom rung of the ladder and gain experience and insight into the relevant field.

 

You clearly have had some positive experiences as a result of this internship Shadow- and in return you just don't show up because some guy bothers you and you don't get to do exactly what you want all the time.

 

Welcome to the real world! If you want to continue in the film industry, you are going to have to suck it up sometime. If you quit every time something isn't exactly to your liking, your resume will be full of holes and someone with more stickability and drive will surpass you to get the jobs you really want.

 

It likely is an "old fashioned" work ethic on my part but, IMO, just going AWOL like that (whether paid or unpaid work) says more about one's own sense of self and responsibility than the work environment with which one must cope.

 

Absolutely.

[sb129]

And you never know, you may come across these people again one day and need them for something.

 

Specialist industries have a habit of being that small..... I did an internship once a long time ago and ended up working at the same place a few years later. I doubt I would have got the job if I had done a bunk on the internship, and it turned out to be a really good job once I was actually allowed to do more stuff.

[stefspets]

You can leave whatever you want off your resume--if the experience is relevant, it wouldn't make sense to do that, but you could if you wanted to. Since she has a second internship, she won't have a hole if she leaves this off.

 

An application that asks for work history, no, you can't just leave it out. Since this is unpaid, I don't know if that applies or not. I would be safe and assume it does.

 

It's better in any job not to burn bridges, but if the damage is already done by three weeks of no-shows, then what? If it can't be fixed, then quit, focus on the other job, and take it as a lesson to do better in the future.