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Shitty internship
Talka
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm entering the final two weeks of a three month internship program. It's been a pretty miserable experience. My boss and coworkers have offered me no guidance or outreach, and they've given me no real work or responsibilities. The nature of the internship limits my ability to start some sort of project on my own initiative, so I'm totally reliant on handouts from coworkers for anything to fill my time with. My boss in particular refuses to explain what it is I should (and should not) be doing with my time. Sitting down to talk with her and pressing her for something to help out with only prompts her to send out a mass e-mail to the entire office saying that I don't have any work to do. This does not help my situation.
Recently a series of missteps on my part (mostly attributable to a a lack of communication from my superiors) have made my relationship with my boss outright acrimonious--but she refuses to address these issues when I talk to her, and instead takes it out on me with small passive-aggressive behaviors. I'd complain more about the thousand things going wrong with the internship, but the gist is that I'm having a fairly miserable time of it. I go to sleep dreading the day ahead, and wake up wishing I were anywhere else. I've had other jobs before and I've completed similar internships without any sort of problem. And while I know this sounds like griping and blameshifting, the long and short of it is that this internship simply isn't working out--I'm not learning anything, my boss is turned against me, and the work atmosphere is openly hostile. The possibility of a letter of recommendation is all but lost, and would the circumstances permit I would quit on the spot. Basically I spend all day daydreaming of the internship's closure and counting the days until I can get out.
I have an immediate problem, and then a more general question:
1) It's written in my contract that I would be working until the 4th of September. On the first day of my internship, however, my boss asked me if it would be alright if we changed the date and made my last day the 28th of August (to make room for the next intern). I agreed, and although the change was never finalized in a new contract, I went ahead and made traveling plans for the week I'd been given off. My boss now wants me to come in that week. My bargaining position here is pretty terrible. The contract says my last day is the 4th. And, like I said, my boss already basically hates me, and I did manage a string of screwups recently that cost the company some money (which also makes me wonder why exactly she's so adamant I come in for another week, but whatever). I don't exactly have any favors I can cash in on here.
Do I have any claim to not coming in that final week? If I don't have any real claim, should I just... not come in anyways? Quit, basically. I need to stay until the 28th at least, because the company supplies my housing, but after that I have no reason to stay any longer.
Well, except for two things: first, if it comes to me telling her that I'm (basically) quitting after the 28th, I'm worried about making the remaining two weeks even more miserable and having to put up with even more of her ill-concealed contempt and passive-aggressive behavior. I really doubt I'm going to be fired and kicked out of my apartment outright, even if I'm adamant about not coming in the final week. But the work atmosphere until I get out will be really painful. Second, I'm here from my university. Poor relations with the company means my university has problems setting up future internships. I think I'm right on the cusp right now as to whether or not they'd be willing to deal with my university again, and this could push them over the edge and hurt future interns unfairly (although, perhaps denying them this particular internship wouldn't be so terrible an act).
2) More generally, do you have any tips or advice on defusing a hostile work atmosphere? I get the impression my boss has given up on reconciling anything with me, but I'd give anything just to ease the tension in our daily interactions. I've tried talking to her in private (she denies being upset with me but clearly is), and I've tried using a co-worker as a third-party to ease tensions, but nothing's really taken. Is there anything that can be done, or do I just grin and bear it? There's eight more work days left, if the 28th is my last day. Otherwise, 13 more days. I can just go in and be miserable for two weeks, but if there's anything to be done to improve the situation I'd love to get some advice.
Recently a series of missteps on my part (mostly attributable to a a lack of communication from my superiors) have made my relationship with my boss outright acrimonious--but she refuses to address these issues when I talk to her, and instead takes it out on me with small passive-aggressive behaviors. I'd complain more about the thousand things going wrong with the internship, but the gist is that I'm having a fairly miserable time of it. I go to sleep dreading the day ahead, and wake up wishing I were anywhere else. I've had other jobs before and I've completed similar internships without any sort of problem. And while I know this sounds like griping and blameshifting, the long and short of it is that this internship simply isn't working out--I'm not learning anything, my boss is turned against me, and the work atmosphere is openly hostile. The possibility of a letter of recommendation is all but lost, and would the circumstances permit I would quit on the spot. Basically I spend all day daydreaming of the internship's closure and counting the days until I can get out.
I have an immediate problem, and then a more general question:
1) It's written in my contract that I would be working until the 4th of September. On the first day of my internship, however, my boss asked me if it would be alright if we changed the date and made my last day the 28th of August (to make room for the next intern). I agreed, and although the change was never finalized in a new contract, I went ahead and made traveling plans for the week I'd been given off. My boss now wants me to come in that week. My bargaining position here is pretty terrible. The contract says my last day is the 4th. And, like I said, my boss already basically hates me, and I did manage a string of screwups recently that cost the company some money (which also makes me wonder why exactly she's so adamant I come in for another week, but whatever). I don't exactly have any favors I can cash in on here.
Do I have any claim to not coming in that final week? If I don't have any real claim, should I just... not come in anyways? Quit, basically. I need to stay until the 28th at least, because the company supplies my housing, but after that I have no reason to stay any longer.
Well, except for two things: first, if it comes to me telling her that I'm (basically) quitting after the 28th, I'm worried about making the remaining two weeks even more miserable and having to put up with even more of her ill-concealed contempt and passive-aggressive behavior. I really doubt I'm going to be fired and kicked out of my apartment outright, even if I'm adamant about not coming in the final week. But the work atmosphere until I get out will be really painful. Second, I'm here from my university. Poor relations with the company means my university has problems setting up future internships. I think I'm right on the cusp right now as to whether or not they'd be willing to deal with my university again, and this could push them over the edge and hurt future interns unfairly (although, perhaps denying them this particular internship wouldn't be so terrible an act).
2) More generally, do you have any tips or advice on defusing a hostile work atmosphere? I get the impression my boss has given up on reconciling anything with me, but I'd give anything just to ease the tension in our daily interactions. I've tried talking to her in private (she denies being upset with me but clearly is), and I've tried using a co-worker as a third-party to ease tensions, but nothing's really taken. Is there anything that can be done, or do I just grin and bear it? There's eight more work days left, if the 28th is my last day. Otherwise, 13 more days. I can just go in and be miserable for two weeks, but if there's anything to be done to improve the situation I'd love to get some advice.
Talka on
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Yeap, right HERE.
To be honest, unless you have something in concrete that says that your boss said you're allowed to be dismissed early on the 28th, you're stuck until the 4th, even if you don't want to follow through and they don’t have anything for you to do. Since this is an internship, chances are the company will be reporting back to your school on your performance, and completely screwing off from the last week of work is not the lasting impression you want to leave. Also, the company may be contractually obligation to keep you until the 4th, whether they want to or not.
As for that second question, I would suggest you find something (anything) you can to work on for the remaining amount of your time. I don’t care if it’s re-organizing the supply closet or dusting the light fixtures. Find a chore and get to work. They’ll be a lot less tension if they see your trying to find something to do. Also, make sure you save every e-mail/post it/whatever you sent to your boss asking for work to do. Later on, you don’t want to be accused of dodging work.
Then I screwed something else up (this time it wasn't really my fault like the internet browsing had been, but the consequences were a lot larger). I haven't been able to undo the damage from this mistake.
I'm not denying that I've basically botched this whole internship. I didn't try very hard after the first three weeks where I was basically ignored in a corner and was denied any requests to lend assistance to my coworkers.
That's exactly the circumstance I'm in. My plane ticket out of Japan is for the 30th. I'd been planning on spending the week in South Korea instead of flying straight home, but either way the ticket's already purchased.
This is why I'm adamant about not staying the last week. I would agree about just sucking it up for another week, but I'm really hesitant to just eat a plane ticket that cost me hundreds of dollars.
Also what did you do to make the relationship between you and your boss so volatile?
Ahhhh....to be young again. Dude, once you graduate, you will probably have a for real job that you actually hate. The difference is that you know, you actually need to stay there for as long as you continue to need food and shelter.
I hate sounding like an old man (especially since im still under 30), but you need to man up here. It's not like you're pulling a twelve hour shift in a coal mine. It's an office that you will never have to set foot in again in less than a month. Enjoy it. There is quite literally not a goddamn thing they can do to you.
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Fuck your boss. Fuck the letter of recommendation from your boss. There are probably other people that you can get a letter of recommendation from at the joint. If your temp-boss is giving you chest pains, there is a 100% chance that there are other people at the company that do not like her.
Say 'hi' to people you don't know in the coffee room. If you don't have diddles to do, ask someone who isn't your boss if you can help them out with something 'I have some free bandwith, do you have any mindlessly tedious tasks that interns are made for?'
I'll take it as pretty much a given that you do not want to return to this company after graduation, but if you can make friends with a manager / supervisor / director / VP / whatthefuckever, you can use them as an employment reference.
Yeah, I really should've. Lesson learned. Although, in a Japanese company, I think I would have just done more damage and started pissing off my boss earlier by asking for changes in the contract on the first day. An intern asking his boss for official, signed proof of their word just didn't seem like it would go over well on the first day.
I'd argue that's one reason it's a bad idea to have the contract-coordinator and my boss be the same person, but whatever the case may be in the future I'm going to be way more adamant about getting things signed in writing.
I've been asking for work (real or tedious) everyday from everyone in the office that I can get to listen to me. Few takers. Just the nature of the company, I assume.
And I'm definitely going to try to get a LOR out of some of the co-workers I'm on good terms with, but it's an awkward situation. I've talked to one co-worker about it. He didn't really seem to understand the concept, for starters, and then said he'd talk to my boss about having her write one up. I know that sounds like he just didn't want to write me one, and maybe he didn't, but he seemed genuinely startled that I would ask him. So I still think it'll be hard for me to get one.
I don't know what to say except that Japan seems to work differently from other places. I've had no trouble arranging contract details in prior internships and jobs, but I'm almost 100% certain I'd have come off as at least a little bit rude in this situation.
That's not to say I shouldn't have done it, but Japan really is different about these sort of confrontational things.
I mean, it's these sort of small confrontational I-don't-pick-up-on-it-because-I'm-a-foreigner things that turned her against me in the first place, which in turn led to me not giving a shit and making the situation even worse, etc, etc.
Two things: One, the limed is a massive understatement. We're talking about the place whose citizens eats raw fish and buy used panties from a vending machine.
Two, to be fair, I would be pissed if an intern at my firm wanted to ditch a week early from what was in his internship contract, especially with the excuse “but I just made travel plans”. Even if he didn't have any work for the kid to do, I want him around in case I have something he can do come up at the last minute. Even if I didn't get along with the kid.
I would recommend that the OP cancel the travel plans and cool his heels until the 4th.
This also needed liming.
Best you can do is to weigh how this is going to affect your University grades, classes and future internship opportunities. If you really think you won't suffer from it, I say take off early.
I just want advice for how to go about this diplomatically in a manner that reduces tensions as best as can be managed.
Also, have you tried calling the airline and rebooking? Should be obvious but it hasn't been said yet.
I've called the airline already. They said I can't cancel outright, but I could move the date of the flight for a (non-trivial) fee. I don't think I'm going to do this.
EDIT:
Right now, this is my plan: say I made a foolish mistake by booking this flight before the contract date, apologize for the confusion, and ask if there's any way I can make the work up before the week in question. If none of that's fruitful, I'm going to have to stop beating around the bush and just let her know that I won't be coming in that week. I've basically tried the diplomatic approach yesterday, so I'm not hopeful.
You don't plan on getting a reference from this job. You aren't going to get any college credit from this job. Once you're done with this job, you're planning on forgetting about it...
I say once the 28th hits, you bail. I would call the school, explain your situation with them so they have a heads up, and then just take your flight out.
Good luck!
This is the polite (and proper) way of telling your boss to get fucked.
I say, do it.
Because depending on the kind of internship I'd be inclined to just say "fuck this" and skip out.
If you can't manage your interns don't expect them to stick around.
And FF and Sentry agree with me.
Very much this. There have been horror stories in the news about Japanese companies fucking over their employees in crazy ways (withholding pay for weeks at a time, forcing the employee to pay for something, etc). I'm not saying all companies do this, but it is very real, so you definitely should double-check your contract for anything that may come back to haunt you. If there's nothing crazy in there, then I will agree with the last few posts and say you should bail.
Weaboo List
Finish strong, skip your trip, and learn from your mistake for next time. Plus, you never know how this will impact you. Why take that chance?
Why should he stay? To build character?
How strong can he finish when his boss hates him and he fucked up so badly (by his own admission?)
He isn't the Beav and you aren't Ward Cleaver... if he wants to end his internship early, he can. He doesn't need a guilt trip and a "son, you're a man now and you have to finish what you started" moment. He messed up, he can carry that knowledge with him to the next job or internship he gets. It sounds like it will be the most useful thing he learned during this experience.
Again assuming you are comfortable with burning bridges and the consequences of breaching the contract, I would just tell them that you had an agreement that the 28th would be your last day, and that you intend for it to be. There's no reason this has to be unprofessional; just go in and politely tell them. You aren't slave labor; if they don't like you and you don't like them and you're not accomplishing much of anything anyway, there isn't much reason to make trouble for everyone for another week.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Do you plan on going back to Japan to live/work any time soon? If not, who is in a real position to enforce any kind of contract?
Equifax and the other two credit agencies...
Well if he owes them money, then don't take off with it.
Is this an American company with a Japan office?
I'm reviewing my contract now. I'm paid one third of an overall sum on the 25th of every month. The apartment they provide me with is one they rent year round for whichever intern is in town (this was actually why I was asked to move out on the 28th, so that the next intern could move in. Apparently he recently said he couldn't make it until the 4th.)
The contract is in Japanese, so I'm going to my (more fluently bilingual) program director for advice on the details. He has, in the past, been spectacularly useless, but I'm hoping he can at least help me read my contract more clearly.
Seriously.
If your boss told you to leave early and then went back on that later, fuck him (note: if you actually were planning to stay with this company, this would not be the case).
But make goddamned sure you aren't going to be hit with the stick if you duck out early.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
I'm very tempted not to show up tomorrow, much less for the week of the 31st. I know I've screwed the internship up plenty on my own, and if I could go back and do it over there are several hundred things I would do differently. But the office has been spectacularly unhelpful and outright hostile from the beginning. I'm not learning anything (save perhaps preparing for how to be miserable under an antagonized boss in a future job). The company isn't gaining anything from having me there. I'm waiting for my program coordinator to contact me, but right now my plan is basically to tell him I'm quitting today. If that means they withhold my paycheck, fuck them. My pay is something like $2 an hour anyways.