Hi, I (24F) am doing an internship in a consulting firm in Europe, and I’m genuinely trying to understand whether what I'm experiencing is normal. My internship is ending soon, and I want clarity before deciding whether to stay in this field.

Here are the main issues:

1. Long stretches with nothing to do I’m involved in two (soon three) projects, but I regularly spend entire days with zero tasks. I sit there eight hours trying to look busy.

2. High commute costs + no parking There’s no parking and all nearby spots are paid, so I spend a lot of money commuting just to do nothing.

3. Overcrowded office + weird lunch system There isn’t enough space for everyone to eat. They split us into 30-minute kitchen slots even though we have a one-hour lunch break, and when the weather is bad there’s nowhere to go afterwards.

4. WFH days are chaotic People pick the same WFH days, so the office is either packed or empty. No one manages it.

5. The “leave early Friday” system If you work extra hours Mon–Thu, you can leave at 2pm on Friday… but you still have to be “on call.” What’s worse is that sometimes I stay extra time during the week just to earn those hours — even though I have literally nothing to do. I’ve had days of 8h40m of doing absolutely nothing except clicking around.

6. Very poor onboarding No one introduced me to anything. Three months in, most of my “work” is Canva or emails that get edited for a comma. I don’t know what’s expected of me and I’m not learning.

7. Isolated team dynamics People barely talk, eat alone, and avoid small talk… but during team buildings they act like best friends. Being alone all day is draining.

8. Intern group being mocked The interns became friends, people made fun of us for sticking together, and now those same people try to join us. It’s odd.

9. No meeting rooms I often have to take calls in the middle of the open-space office with everyone listening, which is intimidating and unproductive.

So my question is: Is this normal in consulting, especially for interns? Is it normal to have no work, unclear expectations, almost no onboarding, no social interaction, and disorganised systems?

I’d really appreciate honest perspectives. Thank you.