summer99 wrote:
I got an MBA internship offer in the Finance department of a great company; however once I started I was placed in Payroll.
I honestly don't have an interest in making a career in Payroll, and if I convert my offer into a full-time position it would be in the Payroll Team. Ideally I would like to be in a FP&A role, or a Finance Leadership Development role and and progress in my career in a Finance Director track, but and I am afraid this internship will not provide me with good relevant skills given my interests.
The company is truly amazing and would love to convert full-time, just not in Payroll. I am actually thinking about how to make the best of this internship, gain meaningful experiences and recruit again.
Do you have any advice on how to navigate this situation? should I talk with my manager? with the recruiting team that placed me? should I try to get myself involved in other teams? I don't want to burn any bridges so I have to play it smart.
were you ever in a similar situation and/or have any suggestions?
Sounds like a tough situation. I was in a similar one when I graduated college. I joined a large company with a lot of interesting projects all over the world, except the position I was placed into was one at a smaller local site and was basically in a low level drafter position. I worked there, did the best job that I could, and learned as much new information as I could. Eventually the department that I originally wanted to work for came by my site for a small project and I jumped at any opportunity I could to interface with them. I met with the project lead and volunteered myself for anything that they needed. Eventually he got to see my abilities and after I told him that I wanted to work in his group, he got me in touch with the local principal, who after meeting me, got me in touch with the department director. The director re-interviewed me with an updated resume and was extremely surprised that I was overlooked for his department and placed into the position I was in at the time. After my interview, he told me he would talk with my director and start the transfer.
The only thing I regretted from my transfer was that during that entire time, I didn't tell my direct supervisor of what I wanted and so when the transfer was announced and came through he felt a bit betrayed. As a result, he made my transfer a little more difficult than it needed to be and I was stuck doing 2 jobs simultaneously for 8 months.
My advice to you is to stick with your gut, do the best job that you can this summer, but if you get an opportunity to work with or do something that is more along the lines of what you're looking for, take it! At the end of the summer, if they ask you if you'd like to come back or when they "debrief" you before you head back to school, let them know that although you really enjoyed the company your interests are in another field. Honesty is the best policy!
I think you'll find that they'll understand and anyways, that's partially the role of an internship. It gives you the opportunity to explore careers and roles and in this case, perhaps you've realized that it won't work out. If you really don't want to end up in payroll, then just go back to school and re-recruit for the positions that you really want and if you re-apply to this company, make sure the recruiter knows the position that you want and gets you in front of those people. I think one of the great things about the MBA is that it gives you the opportunity to find the job/position that you really want. You've come to far to settle for a job that you'll absolutely despise!