Week 2: Solving Problems/Improving

I expected to hit the ground running when I started this internship, but unfortunately, I’m two weeks in and still feel underutilized. Some days I have concrete tasks to accomplish and receive communication from the two people I have been connected with to request work, but other days my inbox is empty and I have very little to do. This inconsistency in my workload has left me focusing on my lack of work rather than what I have accomplished thus far—which really only is two PowerPoints. I have been proactive in trying to network and ask to help others, but I sometimes feel as though it takes more work for someone to gather materials to send my way and explain what they want me to do than if she did it herself. I’ve established cordial relationships with the other interns, and so I know I am not alone in this feeling of underutilization; in fact, I’ve been given a lot more to do than several other interns. This sentiment shared by my intern class almost makes me feel as though there was not enough preparation for the arrival of interns. Perhaps if this was a newly established intern program, I would understand this slow start, but that’s not the case. Interns are seen as an investment by my company, to potentially become full-time hires without the additional recruiting process. However, I feel as though my “capital” is not being invested in—I have a lot more to offer than what has been asked of me so far. This is an especially negative view of my experience so far, because I am enjoying it overall and have learned a lot already. But, from an improvement standpoint, I would suggest that the intern coordinators communicate with full time staff more effectively so that they can set work aside for interns to help them with, because chances are there are low-level tasks that can be handed off to us. I know a lot of the work is high-level and may require longer-term engagement, but there must be a better way to incorporate interns into the projects. I hope as the summer goes on I will gain responsibility.