Is this normal at most internships?
So I’m three weeks into a cybersecurity government contracting internship and I genuinely cannot tell if this is just how small company internships work or if something is off. Curious if anyone’s been here before:
1. I get almost zero assignments. When I do get one and actually finish it, my manager doesn’t look at it until I follow up. Again. He might just be swamped, but it’s a pattern now.
2. When the PM emails me to shadow a team member on a task (with other employees cc’d), they just… do it without me. I usually find this out right after.
3. I’m CS/SWE-focused but took this to explore govcon. Problem is the only senior SWE is at a different office out of state, so there’s barely anything technical for me to do. Most of my 8-hour days are blog posts, testing demos, and reviewing docs, stuff that takes maybe 30-45 min total.
4. When team members are told to include me, they wait for me to reach out first. Every time. And I’m the only new intern. the returning interns or new full-time employees aren’t always busy either, but getting anything useful out of them takes an embarrassing amount of nudging. Like I’m asking a LOT of question just to find out what they’re even working on.
Here is the thing, I’m introverted, so I’ll own that some of this is on me for not forcing my way in. I also am very grateful for this opportunity so I am happy to be there nonetheless! But I’m also the only WOC on the team, and I can’t fully separate that from what I’m observing.
The issue isn’t just that I am not given much to do, it’s that when I do deliver something, it gets ignored or forgotten until I recapture their attention
Also just found out the company is receiving government funding specifically because I’m here, which explains some things.
So is this a small company thing? Has anyone navigated something like this?