I have an awful summer intern, and I can’t fire him by Alison Green on June 20, 2016 A reader writes: I’m reaching out to request advice on an intern problem. As background, I’m a young-looking woman with a professional degree who works in the charitable arm of a prestigious, for-profit teapot firm. I have three interns this summer, one of whom is in a professional degree program, and the others are still […] Read the full article →
when internships go bad: stories of the world’s worst interns by Alison Green on August 17, 2015 When summer internships wrap up in the next few weeks, most offices will end up missing their interns – but a few will be relieved to see them go. I recently had Ask a Manager readers share their worst experiences with interns, and they delivered. Here are eight of the most outrageous real-life stories they shared of […] Read the full article →
tell us your worst intern horror stories by Alison Green on August 6, 2015 Some interns are awesome. Others are not. As we near the end of summer internship season, I want to know about your worst intern stories: the interns who behaved badly, disruptively, unprofessionally. I especially want to hear your stories if that intern was you. Share in the comments. Spare no detail. Read the full article →
our intern is driving everyone crazy! by Alison Green on July 27, 2015 With summer internship season in full swing, you might be thrilled with your office’s crop of interns – or you might be counting down the days until summer ends and they return to school. If you’re finding yourself aggravated by interns who are unprofessional or don’t know work norms yet, remember that you once didn’t […] Read the full article →
how to get the most out of your summer interns by Alison Green on July 9, 2015 If you have summer interns, have you relegated them to filing and fetching coffee because you’re not sure if you can trust them with real assignments? With a little bit of effort, you can set up a structure that lets you give your interns meaningful, useful work and helps them learn (and then you can return […] Read the full article →
how to save your summer internship from sucking by Alison Green on July 6, 2015 With summer internships now in full swing, what should you do if your internship is starting to feel like a dud – if you’re bored, or doing different work than you were promised, or struggling to make ends meet on intern pay? Here are five of the most common ways that internships go awry and […] Read the full article →
I’m an intern managing 8 people by Alison Green on July 1, 2015 A reader writes: I got hired as an intern 8 months ago, and continued to be trusted with more and more responsibility. About a month ago, I was given an informal title change and responsibility of leading a small team; I manage 8 people and work directly with leads on sister-teams. I wasn’t given a […] Read the full article →
can I eat at my desk at my first internship? by Alison Green on June 2, 2015 A reader writes: I’m a college student headed to my first internship this summer and your blog has been so helpful in the preparation for that. I wrote a great cover letter and resume thanks to your advice, which was so different from our career center, and I know that helped me get the position. […] Read the full article →
am I wrong to refuse to hire coworkers’ kids as interns? by Alison Green on May 28, 2015 A reader writes: I work for a small, family-owned company. This summer, I’m in a position to hire a summer student – strictly for the department I work in, and I have been given complete reign in terms of how I conduct the hiring process, including the interview process. Since the summer student in question will […] Read the full article →
how much guidance should interns need? by Alison Green on May 27, 2015 A reader writes: We have a very small company and recently took on our first (paid) interns, and we’re having some issues managing. There is regular last-minute calling in/not showing up, other types of behaviors that are not ideal (falling asleep in a “boring” meeting). They also regularly press for permanent jobs, which we directly […] Read the full article →