What does "training" mean anyway?

Dubai, United Arab Emirates
March 6, 2016 1:46am CST
I'm doing my masters degree in Dubai, and I decided I would do an internship on the side. I've spent a month, and found that the internship doesn't add any value to my career path, and it's essentially one of those "we fire long term employees and hire interns to do their jobs at a (much) lower pay" My working week is from Sunday to Thursday, and last Thursday, I informed my manager that I wouldn't be willing to work after the end of this week, citing legitimate academic commitments that needed to be sorted out. He got mad and said that I treated this internship as a joke, and that their "valuable training" would be wasted on me. He even went as far as to say my work ethic was poor, even though I took care of most of the administrative tasks from the time I joined the company. Now my perspective and arguments that support my claim : - According to my contract, it is up to me or the company to terminate my internship at any time, as per the will of the terminating party. - My work involved googling data, putting them into Excel sheets, and interpreting those sheets into Word Document Reports. There is nothing unique about this type of work, since I've been using Microsoft Office and the internet since I have been a kid. We didn't even use different analytical tools or complex calculations. Just the basic stuff. - I come to work at the right time (9.30 am in the morning), yet I'd be alone in the office until 10.30am or 11 am. - On several days, only interns were present in the office - Most of the other permanent employees showed up only when a bank loan was required by the company, and the bank needed proof of a full fledged office. -Each time we asked members of the marketing team what they did, they gave us different answers that were really vague. -While taking printouts, I noticed most of the permanent employees and even the managers would be watching YouTube clips or a movie. Am I wrong to quit a place like this? Especially when the dissertation component of my Masters program is eating my head? I would like to know what part of my decision is based on an incorrect premise.
3 people like this
5 responses
@Missmwngi (12915)
• Nairobi, Kenya
8 Mar 16
I am not surprised there. I also did not like anything when i went for my attachment when it was a must for one to graduate I don't think it added anything to me and i got no experience to pull from it
1 person likes this
• Dubai, United Arab Emirates
8 Mar 16
Exactly, because when you put this experience on your resume, the employers' knee jerk reaction is to assume you have an idea of how to do things. My internship's job description has 6 tasks, of which I have only been doing one, because they don't want me to do anything else/there aren't enough services or facilities to do the other tasks.
@MGjhaud (23240)
• Philippines
6 Mar 16
normally you need to render 30day notice. i guess the manager is concerned about the number of staffing once you leave and the effort they did for your training.
@MGjhaud (23240)
• Philippines
6 Mar 16
@HarishSubramanian thats right Harish. so that theyll have time to find someone to fill the position in case they dont have buffers.
• Dubai, United Arab Emirates
6 Mar 16
It is a 7 day notice period for me. Although I'm still confused by the term, it's the time between the day you announce your resignation and the day you leave right?
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
6 Mar 16
Welcome to the real world. You have seen your future. Next time when you become a permanent staff, you will behave like the rest of them. You will get the interns to do the work, and take the credit!
• Dubai, United Arab Emirates
6 Mar 16
If that really is the real world, I'm better off meditating in the Himalayas for the rest of my life. No stress, no tensions, only calm (avalanches and earthquakes excluded)
1 person likes this
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
6 Mar 16
@HarishSubramanian That is the real world! In the corporate world, especially in the large companies, the interns, the temporary, contract staff and the newbies are the ones doing all the work. The perm staff does the so-called "supervising" and "mentoring" role, and that means do practically nothing.
1 person likes this
@cherriefic (10399)
• Philippines
6 Mar 16
This is supposed to be a training ground for you and the company cannot keep you away from education. You need to prioritize your studies first.
@Shavkat (140157)
• Philippines
6 Mar 16
Well, it happens not only in your place. That's the part of having OJT. At least, you have known the practices.
• Dubai, United Arab Emirates
6 Mar 16
These are not practices in the remotest possible definition of the word. My internship with Nestle was far more rewarding in that aspect, in terms of work ethic, safety and hygiene, and they had a department for continuous excellence. Compared to that, this office is a joke.