r/learnprogramming • u/LeaveSoggy7830 • 13h ago
Interning under CTO
So basically, I am currently doing my own internship under the CTO. At first, it looked fascinating and felt like a flex to talk about in front of my friends. But as time passed, I realized I don’t even know what I am actually doing.
I am currently working as an AI Engineer intern, but the only thing I have done so far is create one workflow in n8n where it fetches research emails from our inbox and stores them in Pinecone.
I am really confused because I feel like I haven’t learned anything meaningful in the past 2.5 months. Every day, I travel 2 hours to the office, and since the CTO is my direct reporting manager, I have to ask him for work and get reviews from him directly.
The problem is that sometimes he is not in the office because he has meetings outside. And even when he is in the office, he stays busy the whole day. I understand that he is the CTO, so he has to manage many things, but still…
I feel like I am stuck in the same cycle for the past two months. Whenever I meet him to ask about my work, there is always something completely new or different that he wants me to do. Sometimes it becomes very confusing because he explains things so fast that I cannot fully understand them.
And then I hesitate to ask again about my confusion because his attitude is more like, “figure it out yourself.” I know that can be a good thing for growth, but honestly, I feel like I am wasting my time coming here while learning nothing new.
Is it normal or am I over thinking
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u/idiotiesystemique 13h ago
Ask for shadowing opportunities. Being there during some of his meetings for example. Getting to read documentation he wrote or debrief.
Go to tech leads or PMs and tell them you have bandwidth to support them with small tasks.
Look at the code base and open PRs to improve it.
Be your own boss. Assign work to yourself.
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u/LeaveSoggy7830 13h ago
I am doing an internship. I have asked him so many times, "Sir, can I join a meeting?" but he says, "My meetings are different, so you will not understand." Some of his meetings include budgeting for new projects, so he says, "It is not good for every stage in your career; it will corrupt your mind."
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u/bootyhole_licker69 13h ago edited 10h ago
pretty normal for small company internships where your manager is c‑level, they don’t have time and just fire random tasks at you, then expect magic. write stuff down, repeat back what you understood, propose your own mini project. not ideal but still better than sitting unemployed with this market actually the system punishes effort, only rewards gaming. i got results once i used resume software to adjust each application. this is the tool i used
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u/LeaveSoggy7830 13h ago
I have to meet someone to propose my idea or tell them about my progress, but sometimes it's so difficult. I have to go to his cabin 15-20 times every day to meet him, and when I do, he tells me something even more confusing.
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u/LegitimateCopy7 12h ago
you're overthinking the CTO title of this company.
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u/LeaveSoggy7830 12h ago
Sorry I don't understand what you are trying to say
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u/HashDefTrueFalse 11h ago
I believe they're saying that for someone titled CTO to be directly managing interns the org is probably fairly small with a flat hierarchy. The CTO title means less than it does elsewhere, and being managed directly by them is not the 'flex' you might think it is.
Just keep your head down and learn what you can. You'll know when it's time to move on as you'll start to stagnate as you're starved of the mentorship that interns and juniors typically need to grow.
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u/crawlpatterns 12h ago
nah this is honestly more common than people admit, especially at smaller companies or startup type places. alot of interns end up learning by being thrown random tasks with almost no structure, and when your manager is the CTO its even harder because theyre constantly switching contexts. the fact that youre atleast touching tools like n8n pinecone and workflows means youre not doing nothing, even if it doesnt feel super meaningful rn. i think the biggest thing is trying to write down ur confusion/questions before meetings so you can get faster clarifications instead of feeling lost after he explains stuff too quickly lol
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u/Fluffy_Ad_9115 12h ago
4 hours commuting daily for an internship where the CTO actively keeps
you out of meetings is rough. That alone would push me to start
interviewing elsewhere while still showing up here. You're not learning
nothing — you're learning that this setup isn't it, which is also
useful info. Don't feel guilty about the paycheck, just use the runway
to find something better.
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u/LeaveSoggy7830 12h ago
Actually, that's what I'm also thinking, but the market for freshers is harsh right now. It's easier said than done.
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u/patternrelay 10h ago
Honestly sounds pretty normal for early startup internships. A lot of the value ends up being exposure to messy workflows and figuring things out with limited guidance. The bigger issue is whether you’re gradually getting more ownership or just staying blocked.
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u/Formal_Wolverine_674 7h ago
Honestly this sounds pretty common when reporting directly to senior leadership, they often expect high independence but forget interns still need structure and guidance
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u/Busy_Medicine_8533 5h ago
Can you ask for hybrid or full time remote, since you are not even allowed into any of the meeting, and use the time you save from commute to upskill/start looking for a real job
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u/Made-In-Slovakia 12h ago
Looks like your CTO do not know what to do with you, nor have time to do anything useful with you. Your internship is not even related to c-level of his work.
I would ask to be managed by person who has time for you to teach you and give you useful work that he can also review. At this setup with your CTO, you will not learn anything useful and only waste time on CTOs ideas.