(Adapted from Chicago Semester alums about their internship experience)
Raves for the Supervisor
(Find some Non-Raves below.)
[She] was all about giving me exposure to as many different things as she can. [The staff] all want me to learn and are always willing to help….They treated me just like another staff accountant.
The staff supported me immensely and are very concerned with my success in the future.
Meetings are the most valuable learning experiences-go to as many as possible!
[She] was very helpful in explaining projects, answering questions and working with me to do things right and learn why that was the right way.
My site people were wonderful. They expected a lot out of me, which pushed me even farther. [My supervisor] is a wonderful man to know….
I was given a lot of authority and empowerment in what I did, so I was challenged to step out of my box and be bold in what I did….[My co-workers] were good at what they did and they challenged me to reach a level of excellence and do my best. They were really eager for me to succeed and they always treated me like part of the team.
My supervisors have my best interests at heart.
[She] was a patient and accommodating supervisor; it's been nothing but a pleasure to work under her.
My supervisor's hard work, knowledge, enthusiasm, presence, toughness and general kindness will remain a constant inspiration for me to draw upon in future job settings. Her method of supervision was one that promoted constant learning. She gave ample instruction to begin each project and tender criticism to refine my work to her standards.
[She] is an awesome supervisor who was always there to help. She not only provided me work to keep me busy all of the time, but she expected me to do it within a certain amount of time and do it well. She did a great job of customizing my experience to what I wanted.
Both of my supervisors did a great job…they checked in with me to see if I needed anything, and if I didn't, they didn't watch over my shoulder.
I was challenged and definitely NOT in my comfort zone during several supervisory and team meetings. I was asked to talk about my own potential (strengths and weaknesses) and possible fallbacks more times than I can remember. I have never been comfortable speaking about myself and/or my supervisors, so this was very good for my personal and professional development.
My supervisor taught me to be a better listener and a leader. I believe I am a better person as a whole for working with him. He has such passion for his life and work.
The people here are very receptive to interns and it is important to them that interns learn a lot and are able to participate in the business….I knew from the time of my interview what they expected of me and what my responsibilities would be. They also knew what I wanted to gain from this internship and worked to help me accomplish those goals.
Non-Raves and Other Comments
Never once did I get a "thank you" or a "good job"….[My supervisor] would lose projects that I had completed and blame me….She was a very aggressive communicator.
I had less than five minutes of interaction with [my supervisor] during a typical week. I felt like I was thrown into a major project and it was hard for me to catch on with no training. I learned everything on my own which was sometimes frustrating.
After my project was cancelled, [my supervisors] did little to help me replace it with anything. I didn't feel challenged by anything they gave me and I wish I could have been better used in the organization.
My supervisor was unaware of my activities and of the responsibilities I was given. This made my evaluation tough….She was very busy and often forgot about my requests [to work in other areas].
My two supervisors were difficult at times. They said that flexibility was essential for interns and themselves. However, it soon became apparent that only the interns needed to be flexible.
[My supervisor] is one of the most kind people you will ever meet, as well as an empowering supervisor who truly believes that his responsibility is to give back to the community, including to interns….[At the same time,] he is a very vague person in terms of what he expects from you. Many times, I found that he kept adding new tasks to projects I had already completed = frustrating!…The projects another intern and I worked on did not involve anyone else but us, so there was no reason for us to intermingle with other employees.
If someone did not want a relationship with their supervisor and likes working alone, this is a good site. [Ouch! We're not using that person again. -Ed.] I felt that I was patronized when I asked a question, so I eventually did not ask [her] any questions. This led me to be more resourceful, because I would have to find someone else who could help me.
It was very difficult to learn to work in an environment where directions where only partially given…. My supervisor had a very sarcastic attitude and was sometimes very intimidating. He seemed irritated about my not working on Fridays and gave me a hard time for missing work for [other program events].
I would suggest a tour/introduction to the office on the first day.
It is easy to get lost in the shuffle in the beginning if you don't ask for things to do. I was willing to take initiative and take on a task no matter how big or small.
The only frustrating thing was that there were many times when I had nothing to do, and had to ask everyone in the department if I could help….I usually ended up helping the administrative assistant with filing or other tasks.
It's humbling to come into a place as an intern; it was pretty clear that I was at the bottom of the ladder.
The atmosphere of the office was cold. The people are not unfriendly, but they do not make much effort to make you feel comfortable in such a foreign environment.
I think the last three months have been a good exercise in adaptation. This was my first venture into the world of publishing…and there were moments of frustration when I felt overwhelmed by how many new editorial words and procedures were being thrown my way.