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Internship Advice-Should I stay or should I go?
Rossman92
Posts: 3,650
Hello all
As some of you may know (Because I posted about it a few months ago), I have been spending my summer interning with an amusement park here in the states as my capstone for my university degree. It has been a long, eventful summer that has recently lead to me being promoted to a supervisory role with the parks' Special Events department. I had been working Guest Relations and Special Events for my position but had worked my arse off to get my promotion because Events are what I do best, and are what I think I want to pursue as a career. I had been asked to apply for the Guest Relations supervisor role by one of my superiors, however I told him honestly, this is not a role I feel comfortable in, and it will not be beneficial to my career. Everyone in the Guest Relations department knows my feeling on this matter. So, we are at the end of our season now and we are losing staff. I look at my schedule for next week, and I have been placed in the Guest Relations office (the epicenter of stress and horrible people) as the supervisor for two shifts. This is the role that I have said time and time again, I am not comfortable doing. I have worked my butt off to get my promotion to special events supervisor and now I am being thrown into a role I have always said I can't do. What was even the point of promoting me if you're just gonna throw me around like this?
The invariable problem here is this. I said I would work September and October for our Halloween celebration, but now I am worried I will continually get stuck with a supervisor role I have not been trained on and will fail horribly at. I feel extremely undervalued at this company and there's no secret that the work getting done is way more important than the well being of the employees. I will NEVER EVER do a job just for the money, but that is the only thing keeping me here right now. I am obligated to work here until August 25th when my apprenticeship officially ends with my university. Any time I work after that is at my own choice. I don't want to break my obligation to the amusement park, but this job, and this park mean absolutely nothing to me at this juncture.
Tomorrow I know I will have to go to my manager and make an adult decision about what to do and only I can make that decision. What do you think? I am overthinking all of this? Would it be best for my professional career to tough it out? Or would it be better to do what's right for my self worth and my life?
Being an adult, what a roller coaster (Pun intended)
As some of you may know (Because I posted about it a few months ago), I have been spending my summer interning with an amusement park here in the states as my capstone for my university degree. It has been a long, eventful summer that has recently lead to me being promoted to a supervisory role with the parks' Special Events department. I had been working Guest Relations and Special Events for my position but had worked my arse off to get my promotion because Events are what I do best, and are what I think I want to pursue as a career. I had been asked to apply for the Guest Relations supervisor role by one of my superiors, however I told him honestly, this is not a role I feel comfortable in, and it will not be beneficial to my career. Everyone in the Guest Relations department knows my feeling on this matter. So, we are at the end of our season now and we are losing staff. I look at my schedule for next week, and I have been placed in the Guest Relations office (the epicenter of stress and horrible people) as the supervisor for two shifts. This is the role that I have said time and time again, I am not comfortable doing. I have worked my butt off to get my promotion to special events supervisor and now I am being thrown into a role I have always said I can't do. What was even the point of promoting me if you're just gonna throw me around like this?
The invariable problem here is this. I said I would work September and October for our Halloween celebration, but now I am worried I will continually get stuck with a supervisor role I have not been trained on and will fail horribly at. I feel extremely undervalued at this company and there's no secret that the work getting done is way more important than the well being of the employees. I will NEVER EVER do a job just for the money, but that is the only thing keeping me here right now. I am obligated to work here until August 25th when my apprenticeship officially ends with my university. Any time I work after that is at my own choice. I don't want to break my obligation to the amusement park, but this job, and this park mean absolutely nothing to me at this juncture.
Tomorrow I know I will have to go to my manager and make an adult decision about what to do and only I can make that decision. What do you think? I am overthinking all of this? Would it be best for my professional career to tough it out? Or would it be better to do what's right for my self worth and my life?
Being an adult, what a roller coaster (Pun intended)
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Rossman, here are three pieces of advice. You are free to choose to ignore or to embrace any of them. But if you turn your back on the third, you are a fool.
1. Imagine yourself in ten years' time, interviewing someone. Ask yourself what you think what you would like to see on that person's resume. That will tell you what is the best path for you, from here. Do the thing that makes you look like you made the best choice.
2. Don't do what people tell you you should do. Take advice, learn from others, find out what some people think of your options. And then make your own decision in the full and permanent knowledge that it is your decision and yours only. Take credit if it turns out well; but own it if it doesn't work for you.
3. You have employed the word "arse", brilliantly. People from your country often fail to use it properly. But you've got it spot on, even if you went on to use the dreadful "butt" later on. Well done on using it, please continue to do so. It will stand you in good stead, eventually.
Good luck.7 -
If you don't feel happy doing it, tell them you aren't doing it.
Remind them you don't have to be there after the date you specified.
Remind them you love, and are probably very good at, the roll your currently doing.
Remember in 1, 2 or even 10 years time, if someone asks you why left, you can tell them you did the 1st 3 things and were left with the choice of still doing it or walking away. If I was interviewing you and you said that you would be massively in credit.
Oh and looking good on the CV only matters for who you worked for an your job title, anyone can BS the rest of it.
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I'd look it this way, Rossman ....... it's all experience.
Even though it's not what you want to do and have an aversion to it - you'll learn something from it, understand how colleagues go about dealing with the day to day involvement in that section. And you'll also learn something new about yourself.
It's only for a few weeks anyway.
Unpleasant as it might be at the time, in the long term there's not really 'bad experience' .... only something you've gone through and come out of eventually. It'll toughen you up and serve you in good stead in future.3 -
For me, your last paragraph is very important.
’Tough it out’ vs what is right for your self worth and life.
I would do what you feel is best for your health and well being. IMHO that’s one of the most important things to do in life.2 -
I can say hand on heart this will happen to you consistently throughout your working life until you either become top dog or start your own venture
The more you know, the more you help, the more you don't complain the more you will be stitched up
You will also earn a lot more money however there seems to be a step change in society that you should do what makes you happy. Which I agree with, unfortunately nothing at work makes me happy or fulfilled but it does enable me to pay for other stuff that gives me joy and fulfillment5 -
As above.Oggy Red said:I'd look it this way, Rossman ....... it's all experience.
Even though it's not what you want to do and have an aversion to it - you'll learn something from it, understand how colleagues go about dealing with the day to day involvement in that section. And you'll also learn something new about yourself.
It's only for a few weeks anyway.
Unpleasant as it might be at the time, in the long term there's not really 'bad experience' .... only something you've gone through and come out of eventually. It'll toughen you up and serve you in good stead in future.
Being able to deal with things you are not comfortable with is a great confidence builder.
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I couldn’t be bothered to read your post, but reckon you should go.2
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Man up, do the job, put it in your CV to show that you were promoted to organ grinder after proving yourself as a monkey.Rossman92 said:Hello all
As some of you may know (Because I posted about it a few months ago), I have been spending my summer interning with an amusement park here in the states as my capstone for my university degree. It has been a long, eventful summer that has recently lead to me being promoted to a supervisory role with the parks' Special Events department. I had been working Guest Relations and Special Events for my position but had worked my arse off to get my promotion because Events are what I do best, and are what I think I want to pursue as a career. I had been asked to apply for the Guest Relations supervisor role by one of my superiors, however I told him honestly, this is not a role I feel comfortable in, and it will not be beneficial to my career. Everyone in the Guest Relations department knows my feeling on this matter. So, we are at the end of our season now and we are losing staff. I look at my schedule for next week, and I have been placed in the Guest Relations office (the epicenter of stress and horrible people) as the supervisor for two shifts. This is the role that I have said time and time again, I am not comfortable doing. I have worked my butt off to get my promotion to special events supervisor and now I am being thrown into a role I have always said I can't do. What was even the point of promoting me if you're just gonna throw me around like this?
The invariable problem here is this. I said I would work September and October for our Halloween celebration, but now I am worried I will continually get stuck with a supervisor role I have not been trained on and will fail horribly at. I feel extremely undervalued at this company and there's no secret that the work getting done is way more important than the well being of the employees. I will NEVER EVER do a job just for the money, but that is the only thing keeping me here right now. I am obligated to work here until August 25th when my apprenticeship officially ends with my university. Any time I work after that is at my own choice. I don't want to break my obligation to the amusement park, but this job, and this park mean absolutely nothing to me at this juncture.
Tomorrow I know I will have to go to my manager and make an adult decision about what to do and only I can make that decision. What do you think? I am overthinking all of this? Would it be best for my professional career to tough it out? Or would it be better to do what's right for my self worth and my life?
Being an adult, what a roller coaster (Pun intended)0 -
I think you've sort of answered your own question by saying that after 25th August "this job, and this park mean absolutely nothing to me at this juncture."
Unless you really need the money then what other benefits are there to staying? I feel like you won't enjoy it, it will just wind you up, you'll do more work to cover others, you will just be counting down the days and as you've already said you need to do what's best for you. Staying there a few extra weeks really doesn't sound like it will be worth it.3 - Sponsored links:
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unless he spends the last two weeks shagging the supervisors bird.Chris_from_Sidcup said:I think you've sort of answered your own question by saying that after 25th August "this job, and this park mean absolutely nothing to me at this juncture."
Unless you really need the money then what other benefits are there to staying? I feel like you won't enjoy it, it will just wind you up, you'll do more work to cover others, you will just be counting down the days and as you've already said you need to do what's best for you. Staying there a few extra weeks really doesn't sound like it will be worth it.
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All sounds a bit Mickey Mouse to me.0
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Hate the phrase ‘man up’. If you don’t think it will do your well-being any good to stay then don’t. To man up is not to do what you don’t feel comfortable doing, it’s to look after yourself always.letthegoodtimesroll said:
Man up, do the job, put it in your CV to show that you were promoted to organ grinder after proving yourself as a monkey.Rossman92 said:Hello all
As some of you may know (Because I posted about it a few months ago), I have been spending my summer interning with an amusement park here in the states as my capstone for my university degree. It has been a long, eventful summer that has recently lead to me being promoted to a supervisory role with the parks' Special Events department. I had been working Guest Relations and Special Events for my position but had worked my arse off to get my promotion because Events are what I do best, and are what I think I want to pursue as a career. I had been asked to apply for the Guest Relations supervisor role by one of my superiors, however I told him honestly, this is not a role I feel comfortable in, and it will not be beneficial to my career. Everyone in the Guest Relations department knows my feeling on this matter. So, we are at the end of our season now and we are losing staff. I look at my schedule for next week, and I have been placed in the Guest Relations office (the epicenter of stress and horrible people) as the supervisor for two shifts. This is the role that I have said time and time again, I am not comfortable doing. I have worked my butt off to get my promotion to special events supervisor and now I am being thrown into a role I have always said I can't do. What was even the point of promoting me if you're just gonna throw me around like this?
The invariable problem here is this. I said I would work September and October for our Halloween celebration, but now I am worried I will continually get stuck with a supervisor role I have not been trained on and will fail horribly at. I feel extremely undervalued at this company and there's no secret that the work getting done is way more important than the well being of the employees. I will NEVER EVER do a job just for the money, but that is the only thing keeping me here right now. I am obligated to work here until August 25th when my apprenticeship officially ends with my university. Any time I work after that is at my own choice. I don't want to break my obligation to the amusement park, but this job, and this park mean absolutely nothing to me at this juncture.
Tomorrow I know I will have to go to my manager and make an adult decision about what to do and only I can make that decision. What do you think? I am overthinking all of this? Would it be best for my professional career to tough it out? Or would it be better to do what's right for my self worth and my life?
Being an adult, what a roller coaster (Pun intended)4 -
On the other hand, if it’s a job you really don’t want to do - and you say it would go badly - then doing it could be detrimental to your confidence. Go with your gut feeling.Baldybonce said:
As above.Oggy Red said:I'd look it this way, Rossman ....... it's all experience.
Even though it's not what you want to do and have an aversion to it - you'll learn something from it, understand how colleagues go about dealing with the day to day involvement in that section. And you'll also learn something new about yourself.
It's only for a few weeks anyway.
Unpleasant as it might be at the time, in the long term there's not really 'bad experience' .... only something you've gone through and come out of eventually. It'll toughen you up and serve you in good stead in future.
Being able to deal with things you are not comfortable with is a great confidence builder.1 -
Not sure how it works in the states - is this the end of your studies or do you now go back to complete your final year?Either way you have fulfilled your obligation as part of your degree and to the park, and have been working in an area that interests you and that you are good at. Job done!If you are returning to university then do so knowing that your internship was successful. If that's it as far as your studies are concerned then take a break, polish up your CV and look for event management opportunities.That would be the mature and considered decision. That is manning up - whatever that stupid phrase means.One final point - you WILL at some point in your career, unless you are very lucky, for a time at least do a job just for the money. I've been incredibly lucky, have had success, and love my role now (it isn't work for me). But at some points in my working life I have worked just for the money - family, mortgage and all that come along!!4
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So the advice is for him to stay in his comfort zone and don’t try and find out what he is capable of ?Arsenetatters said:
Hate the phrase ‘man up’. If you don’t think it will do your well-being any good to stay then don’t. To man up is not to do what you don’t feel comfortable doing, it’s to look after yourself always.letthegoodtimesroll said:
Man up, do the job, put it in your CV to show that you were promoted to organ grinder after proving yourself as a monkey.Rossman92 said:Hello all
As some of you may know (Because I posted about it a few months ago), I have been spending my summer interning with an amusement park here in the states as my capstone for my university degree. It has been a long, eventful summer that has recently lead to me being promoted to a supervisory role with the parks' Special Events department. I had been working Guest Relations and Special Events for my position but had worked my arse off to get my promotion because Events are what I do best, and are what I think I want to pursue as a career. I had been asked to apply for the Guest Relations supervisor role by one of my superiors, however I told him honestly, this is not a role I feel comfortable in, and it will not be beneficial to my career. Everyone in the Guest Relations department knows my feeling on this matter. So, we are at the end of our season now and we are losing staff. I look at my schedule for next week, and I have been placed in the Guest Relations office (the epicenter of stress and horrible people) as the supervisor for two shifts. This is the role that I have said time and time again, I am not comfortable doing. I have worked my butt off to get my promotion to special events supervisor and now I am being thrown into a role I have always said I can't do. What was even the point of promoting me if you're just gonna throw me around like this?
The invariable problem here is this. I said I would work September and October for our Halloween celebration, but now I am worried I will continually get stuck with a supervisor role I have not been trained on and will fail horribly at. I feel extremely undervalued at this company and there's no secret that the work getting done is way more important than the well being of the employees. I will NEVER EVER do a job just for the money, but that is the only thing keeping me here right now. I am obligated to work here until August 25th when my apprenticeship officially ends with my university. Any time I work after that is at my own choice. I don't want to break my obligation to the amusement park, but this job, and this park mean absolutely nothing to me at this juncture.
Tomorrow I know I will have to go to my manager and make an adult decision about what to do and only I can make that decision. What do you think? I am overthinking all of this? Would it be best for my professional career to tough it out? Or would it be better to do what's right for my self worth and my life?
Being an adult, what a roller coaster (Pun intended)0 -
Ok, sod how you feel about things for a minute, what are your contractual obligations here? You say you have to stay until the 25th of August to complete your university's requirements for the apprenticeship, but what happens after that? Do you have any kind of notice period that you'd have to serve if you stayed on after that, or could you basically turn around at the end of the day (or the week) and say "OK it's been nice knowing you all but I'm not coming back tomorrow"? How you should approach things is going to be affected by what the answers to those questions are.First off, you've not got any choice on the Guest Relations shifts if that's what they want you to do in your time before the 25th. You _can_ however, go to your boss and say "Can I doublecheck my schedule for next week? I'm down for Guest Relations supervisor on these days, and I've not had any training for that, and I really don't think it's where my aptitude lies." May not do any good, but worth a try, and if you do get stuck with it, it's still a useful learning experience (even if most of what you learn may be 1001 ways not to let an idiot know you think they're an idiot). And while it may not think it's ever something you want to do, there may come a point where it's a useful thing to have on your CV.As far as September and October goes, I think it depends on what your notice period is. If you can quit without notice or only a few days notice, then you can opt to stay on for longer, and if it really starts pissing you off you can stick your notice in safe in the knowledge you only have to put up with it for a few more days. If it's a much longer notice period or a fixed length contract then I think leaving at a natural break point like the end of your university obligation, or the end of the month, makes more sense. That said, if being rostered to work Guest Relations Supervisor is that pivotal in your decision whether to stay or go, tell your boss that. If they're keen to keep you, then they may be able to make sure you don't get put on those shifts, or it may be that with the park winding down Guest Relations is short-staffed and that's why they need you there, so you know it's likely to be an on-going thing. That way it won't just seem like you've up and quit on them, and you'll know you tried to resolve the issue before taking the nuclear option.3
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@letthegoodtimesroll mate, I spent the first 3 months of my internship doing
guest services shifts. I gave myself plenty of chances to learn and grow. I jumped out of my comfort zone by taking this position in the first place. Guest services just ain't for me2 -
@aliwibble regardless of my decision, I'm working the guest services shifts next week, I'll just have to suck it up. My final project is due to my university the 25th, therefore anything I work after the 25th means nothing towards my degree. If I get my project done and turned in by then, I get my degree, end of discussion. I have a meeting with my manager tomorrow to discuss whether or not I will work the following months. A 2 weeks notice is standard in the US. I Have 2 weeks from monday before my next shift so I'm in a good amount of time here6
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@rossman92 what did you decide in the end?
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I decided to end my experience on the 25th. I'll be leaving for home next week and to make up for the money I'll be losing by going home, I'm gonna start refereeing football. Always something I've wanted to try and it allows me to work around the game I love. Thanks everyone for all the advice! It was a tough call, but I'll be much happier when I leave Cedar Pointaliwibble said:@rossman92 what did you decide in the end?10 -
Cheers for asking @aliwibble!0
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Let me get this straight, you didn’t fancy being a supervisor, basically, because you’d be unpopular so you opted to become a football referee instead ?Rossman92 said:
I decided to end my experience on the 25th. I'll be leaving for home next week and to make up for the money I'll be losing by going home, I'm gonna start refereeing football. Always something I've wanted to try and it allows me to work around the game I love. Thanks everyone for all the advice! It was a tough call, but I'll be much happier when I leave Cedar Pointaliwibble said:@rossman92 what did you decide in the end?6 -
As contradictory as it sounds, here's my reasoning on this. At the amusement park in guest services, I get screamed at for something I didn't do, and all I can do is just give the angry guests an apology and some free shit. As a ref, if I'm being yelled at, I know it was for something I actually did and I can fix the problem by correcting it and talking it over with the other officials. Also high school parents in the USA don't know enough about football to make any argument against me hurt. I'd love nothing more than to help the sport grow here in the states, so why not help it along and referee it? Wanted to be around something I love, so here we go. It's also an excuse to help me get back into shapeletthegoodtimesroll said:
Let me get this straight, you didn’t fancy being a supervisor, basically, because you’d be unpopular so you opted to become a football referee instead ?Rossman92 said:
I decided to end my experience on the 25th. I'll be leaving for home next week and to make up for the money I'll be losing by going home, I'm gonna start refereeing football. Always something I've wanted to try and it allows me to work around the game I love. Thanks everyone for all the advice! It was a tough call, but I'll be much happier when I leave Cedar Pointaliwibble said:@rossman92 what did you decide in the end?4
