How can I ask for more tasks to do?

Question

I'm halfway into my 4-month internship at a software development company of 50+ employees. So far I've have done every task they have assigned to me, but they're fairly small tasks, so I'm constantly without any specific tasks to do.

My supervisor is rather senior and very busy, so I don't like to keep asking him multiple times for new tasks (even though I report to him every single time I finish the ask given and also say "I am open to new tasks" or something similar).

This week I asked him and his supervisor for a feedback, and they said that they are very satisfied with me/my work. When I asked if there was something that I could improve, they said that I am okay and that they don't have any complaints.

The problem is that I am only have enough work to fill around 40% of my working hours.

I thought about trying to engage some project here, but that doesn't seem like a good thing to do, because I think I would be bypassing my supervisor doing it.

How can I ask for more tasks without being annoying/rude here? Is it okay to ask for more tasks?

Answer 1

Next time you go back to your manager, ask for more than one task. Tell him you want to do more work, and if you have multiple tasks, you can work on the next one after you finish the first, which will give him a bit more time to respond after you finish a task. That will also allow you to switch to a new task if you hit a roadblock on the other. Then, your status when you talk to him can be more like this:

• I have finished task C and have the information here for you.
• I've started working on task D and am at x% of finishing it.
• I've looked at task E and expect it to take n days.
• When you get a chance, please assign task F to me. I will then be able to give you an estimate on it when I next speak to you.

A hard worker tries to stay busy. There is another option, if he doesn't always have the tasks to give to you. Ask him if there are others you can help, and how he would like you to go about asking to help them.

Answer 2

Look around you and see if there is there is some task or process that you could improve by writing some new software. Research it and propose it to them. This will demonstrate initiative on your part and (hopefully) impress them even more.

If they let you work on it, you can provide added value to the company and this will be a great thing to have on your resume. When I am hiring/interviewing, I am more impressed by someone who identified a problem solved it, then someone who just did the tasks they were assigned.

Answer 3

My supervisor is someone really important here and also really busy, so I don't like to keep asking him multiple times for new tasks

Next time you meet with your supervisor, instead of asking for a task, ask something like:

"I hate bothering you, since you are so busy. When I complete my assigned tasks, what would you like me to do?"

You supervisor may give you a list of "fill-in" activities, may tell you to ask someone else for a task, or may just tell you to think of something on your own. If it were me, and I had a great, fast intern, I'd give him or her a very long list of tasks that would last longer than a week.

This isn't unusual, in my experience. A good intern can often power through assigned tasks far more quickly than an average intern. But a supervisor has to be careful not to overload and overwhelm interns.

Answer 4

If I were a manager, I'd hate the idea of having an intern on my staff. Tight deadlines and an intern who is nagging for supervisory time - that's a miserable mix to me.

Find yourself/cook yourself a project that you like/that needs doing and that you can suggest to your manager as something you can work on where you are not busy. Then work on it and get out of your manager's way after you have let your manager know that you are done with whatever they asked you to do.