Another thought- do you have a therapist? Perhaps you can role play asking for a raise until you find a way to do it that you feel comfortable with. It might give you confidence to do it
Thanks a lot. Will be done within 24 hours! Very politely but very firmly.
I will see him in two weeks. No time to practice.
Good luck. I hope you get what you need.
Thanks a lot!
You have been an intern for 6 years? and you have a Dr. degree? Am I reading that right?
Fill out an resume and be prepared to look for a real job. Go to your advisor and explain to him that you need to get said real job and ask if he is willing to give you a letter of recommendation. His response will tell you if you want to continue to work for free for him or look somewhere else.
I have never heard of an intern over a year, but 6? the training period as an apprentice is normally 4 to 5 years. And your are paid starting at 55% of full pay.
Sorry is I am being hard but I find your situation unbelievable.
I think that you are keeping yourself as an intern while living off parents money.
Rather than going and getting a proper job.
Unfortunately for you after six years your chances of finding a good job are very greatly reduced.
Any potential employer will see you as a person with zero drive and zero ambition.
Even your present adviser is unlikely to pay you a proper wage.
I think the reality of your situation is going to hit you very hard one day.
CC Is this an internship or a post-doctoral position? If it’s a post-doctoral position, you really ought to be getting paid. If it’s considered an internship, it sounds a little odd. I, and others of my acquaintance were research assistants as undergrads and we got paid better than minimum wage (about twice, if I remember right). That was 30 years ago.
Definitely have a talk with your Advisor (and if you have graduated, that’s not the proper title for him either). Tell him you are interested in expanding your role and that you feel that you ought to be compensated commensurate with your degree and experience. Find out if he can help you with that. Candidly, $15/hour sounds low. If you can’t morph this position into a real post-doc, perhaps your advisor can help you.
Good for you for exploring this. Open conversations about job direction and compensation can be awkward to broach, especially if you’re not used to it.
If you’re only working 8 hours a week currently, what are you doing with the rest of your time? If your advisor ultimately refuses to give you more money, do you have an option to take a second job in order to earn some money?
Don’t expect to be paid for therapy.
Talk to your parents about this.
In a CCitizen thread, there are no correct answers.
[ol]
[li]Rise up.[/li][li]Break your chains.[/li][li]Profit![/li][/ol]
I’d also recommend learning a few songs traditionally sung by chain gangs, and singing them as you work.
Go on strike. Organize a sit-in. Blockade the highway. Burn your boss in effigy. Unless he’s actually your advisor. If so, wait until all necessary forms are signed before burning in effigy.
Why do you parents want you to continue there?
If you gave your “advisor” an ultimatum, “pay me or I leave”, what do you think he would do? Pay you, or tell you to leave? If he would like to do the former, can he? Is he in a position to offer you more money? If the latter, would he feel relief that you were finally not his responsibility? Would he regret letting you go?
The advisor has been saddled for the past six years with a guy who has a doctorate he didn’t want in a field he hates, whose parents completely provide for him and “force” him to stay in an internship he hates, who has to take sabbaticals from message boards so he can get simple projects done at the last minute instead of dedicating 8 hours a week to them. How do YOU think he’s going to feel?
“OK, let’s clear this up, then. Exactly who are you and why do you occasionally spend time in my lab?”
I don’t understand what’s happening here.
Why are you in an internship six years after getting your doctoral degree?
Why do your parents want you to stay in that internship?
Why do you work only eight hours? What are you doing with the rest of your time?
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How old are you?
What other jobs have you held, for how long, and for what kind of compensation?
Good questions, Acenray - I would add: What are your medium and long-term goals? I know the questions “where do you see yourself in 5 years? In 10 years?” can seem cliche and ridiculous, but in this case I think they apply. CCitizen, Where DO you want to be in 5 years? What are you working toward?
How aware is the advisor about your situation?
Because I think that he’s doing you the favor of throwing some work your way. It may well be that it actually costs him more in time and money and hassle to have you there than he’s getting out of you. But he’s giving you a few minor tasks to do to get out of the house and feel that you’re accomplishing something.
Frankly, $1,500 a year is probably less than the advisor gives his children for doing chores around the house.
So he might very well respond negatively to any suggestion that you’re being exploited.
I’d recommend that you instead ask him how you can get out of the lab and into a Real Job, earning Real Money.
Keep in mind that you can’t say that you hate mathematics and whatever was the subject of your dissertation. Instead, you’re going to have exploit your education. If you really can’t do that, then apply for a job at McDonald’s. Even at minimum wage, you’ll make way more money than you do now.