Hello
I'm an undergrad student in the UK currently in a placement year (it's a year in industry where you're meant to gain experience and level up your CV before you come back for your last year of uni to graduate)
I got a job in a healthcare company in marketing. I thought it would be long but at least something creative and in a company that wants to advance people's health, right?
It's been almost 4 months (out of 12) and I have learned absolutely nothing and done nothing. Literally, all I've done today was edit a newsletter I wanna launch because I was bored. My tasks are usually something like put in these data into a spreadsheet or creating some slides – and they give me a week for it whilst I'm able to complete such a task in 2/3 hours. So afterward, I sit about doing absolutely nothing, hating my job and my life even more. The problem is whatever job I am given, it always needs to be checked, and approved by someone, which prolongs the process of everything. And then I'm told I should take more initiative in my role, so I try to come up with my own ideas, but it's so incredibly difficult to get anything approved, always fcking waiting to catch up on teams, cc someone in. It drives me crazy. I feel useless, I feel undermined.
I guess my question is, did anyone have a similar experience in a placement year or internship and how did you go on about it? It's also a joke in my opinion that after I finish my studies I'm expected to go into a graduate scheme that will pay me less than a normal worker and exploit me again.. or not exploit me and leave me hanging with my duties for days. Another question, WHAT other occupations do people get themself into that make you feel remotely useless and give meaning?
Currently thinking about staying at uni and doing research but universities are one big corporation too. HELP