I signed on for a six month internship in January, with the understanding that if I performed well, I would be brought on as a full employee at the end of 6 months, and that otherwise we would go our separate ways. I'm a bootcamp grad without a degree, so I lept at a chance to prove myself and get started in the industry, even though the pay was subpar for the industry ($36k salary in downtown Bellevue). Now, 6 months later, my boss shut down salary negotiations and wants to extend my internship for another 3 months and "reevaluate then". I was told that despite my technical contributions (I rebuilt a php app in react and node with 8x better performance entirely by myself), my time estimates were inaccurate and I wasn't sending regular screenshots with my daily tasks email (which I had never been asked to send, I was told to write up what I did each day), so tough shit. I'm feeling frustrated and taken advantage of, and I guess I'm looking for advice and recommendations on companies that are willing to hire someone with skills but no degree.
Follow this philosophy when deciding to join another company: "what I don't take away in salary, I have to take away in learning and experience". It seems to me your current company is not very ethical so yes, move on. Also, why not freelancing on the meantime? It's experience too.
I'm working on filling out my upwork profile and tidying up my bootcamp projects to throw up on AWS as a portfolio. Thanks for the suggestion.
and build something yourself? it's fun!
You need to find a new job. That company is exploiting you and the market is good. Don't generalize a bad opinion of startups though. I've had several experiences with startups in Bellevue and they have all compensated me at market rates and treated me professionally. Even if you want to avoid a startup though, aggressively search for a job at a big company, and leave your current company as soon as you can.
Two of my ex colleagues were from a boot camp. one of them actually worked at a casino before he joined our company. Both of them have definitely proved themselves. If you cannot leave your current job to find a new one, just stick through it for now. talk to your manager at least weekly and ask him / her to email expectations for next week. what are the goals over all and track that. it will be useful for you to negotiate later. meanwhile keep giving as many interviews as possible. Seattle and adjoining areas have a ton of opportunities and I really hope you'll find something good really soon. don't lose heart and don't lose confidence in your abilities. unfortunately you'll find a lot of people who look down on boot camp graduates but don't let them get to you.
Look at what you signed. Is it in writing that your internship period is exactly six months? If so, you need to be made an offer or be let go. Your company is exploiting you. Get out.
I don't have a fallback yet, and I don't have savings to cover a month off. My plan is to take my lumps while I job hunt and then leave.
I think this is a wise call. Better to let them subsidize your job search than quit.
Keep looking for and interviewing for other positions. If you dont find any,take the extension and still keep applying. Getting some experience is better than nothing I suppose.
Someone who waits 6 months to inform you of something you were "supposed to" be doing daily is obviously full of shit
I see where you are from. Years ago, I was a CS fresh grad and I had exactly the same situation as you. What I did was take the extension for now, and sent out hundreds of resumes right away. After two months, with almost one year of working experience, I happily got several offers from some big names as well as promising startups. Just get it started ~
can you start actively looking for positions bas ed on the experience that you've gained while seeing if this will work out? Maybe connect with some people who can get you a referral. Edit: also see it as a way to gain hands on experience that you can leverage to get you a better full time and paid position at a company that respects your time.
That's what I've been doing. I had two phone interviews last week, both with startups, but after this experience I'm a little wary of working at another startup.
@jsuiguy Each startup is different just like each manager is different. In my experience the best leverage is an offer in hand, then going to talk to the manager and being like "look I understand things change and what was said prior may not be possible today. That being said I made a commitment to this company with an expectation of <WHAT EVER YOUR EXPECTATION IS>. Now that our expectations do not align I need to reevaluate my commitment." He/she will either ask what your expectation is, know what is, or tell you that they cannot fullfil it. That's business, two parties getting their mutual needs met.