Intern Feels ‘Abused’ Due to Responsibilities & OT. Strawberry or Kiwi?

I really hate the term “Strawberry Generation”. I’m not trying to defend the people in question, really.

I just think that it’s unfair for us to lump an entire generation into one category.

Recently, there’s been quite a few stories regarding horrible internship experiences, like what you can see in one of our articles here. And now, we’ve got another one of such stories on Hardwarezone forums.

In case the image is too small, here’s what the intern had written:

My understanding of an intern has always been, the intern is just there to learn, and not single-handedly release production-ready code on schedule.

However my recent internship experience speaks otherwise, being handed projects that are critical to the company, having to make possible the fruition of the project from start to the end (live deployment) all by myself, if not risk having my evaluation get shiat on (hinted by my supervisor) 

Therefore I am forced to work OT often at work and at home, getting quite depressed and unhappy since I am just getting a measly intern pay of few hundred dollars and having not much free time to myself.

Is this normal?

Hmm, this is debatable. These are pretty heavy responsibilities for an intern after all. Let’s take a look at what the netizens had to say. Here, we have the nice and logical people:

And then, we have them:

As much as some netizens are just being really mean, I do believe some of these points are actually valid.

Greater responsibilities will mean a better portfolio and learning more things at the end of the day. It is definitely better than just doing photocopying or making coffee for your superiors (Unimportant stuff, as was the case in our previous article).

Besides, isn’t the supervisor in question risking his/her career by delegating such an important project to you?

Perhaps the supervisor saw something in this intern.

Then and again, maybe the supervisor is just trying to take advantage of the intern lah. There’s always the notion that internship=pointless slavery (Sigh). Interns are easily replaceable, and some companies simply took them for granted.

Interestingly, now we are actually comparing two sides of the spectrum.

Too much responsibilities vs no responsibilities.

We’ve said this once, and we will say this again: Please know what you’re getting yourself into when applying for an internship.

I know, I know. Some factors are beyond one’s control. At the very least, look on the bright side of things like what some of the forum goers are saying. Life will definitely be easier this way.

So, what’s your take? Is that a strawberry, or is it a kiwi?

(Actually we don’t know the connotation of a kiwi. My editor just loves kiwi that’s all)

Since you’re here, why not watch a video about an NTU student who went all out to impress his crush, only to end up in…tragedy? Here, watch it and do remember to share it (and also subscribe to Goody Feed YouTube channel)!

This article was first published on goodyfeed.com

Read Also

• Strawberry or Legit: Student Shares His ‘Hellish’ Internship Experience
• 5 types of internships that companies will provide for students
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Image: Hardwarezone Forums