July 11, 2008

The Stupid Intern – When People Don’t Realize Their Mistake

I’m in the midst of writing a book right now – about stupid people and the stupid things they do. I think this person I’m going to tell you about here would fit perfectly in the book. This is a story about an intern who thought she was too smart and too good for anyone else. She came in not knowing a single thing about working in a corporate environment and to hear her speak was like listening to a confession. But after a few weeks, we managed to coax her out of her shell and helped instill in her the confidence she lacked.

As the weeks progressed, this intern decided that she knew better than all of us and decided to make some others feel small. We have this monthly session called the K-Sharing – and it was here that she went on and on pointing out the flaws of others - and marking snarky, smart aleck type comments.

But this isn’t the half of it – the very next week, she decided to go on a tea break while having work to do without informing her line manager. When questioned about this, she said, “Why ah? Here cannot go for tea break is it? Must I ask for permission?” Now reading this may make it seem like a harmless comment, but when someone tells you this coupled with bad attitude, you just want to give her two tight slaps.

Suffice to say she isn’t with us anymore – and that’s what we’ve been doing quite consistently and effectively I might add –getting rid of the bad fruit before the entire crate goes. So if you are a potential intern planning to come for an interview with us, please be sure that you are not stupid.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I totally understand that, too many people are "too smart" to hear what others are telling them.

Anonymous said...

The only thing come into my mind now about this intern is "A frog at the bottom of a well".

Jeremy Lee said...

Many graduates do not know what they don't know. I don't understand what is wrong with our education system.

Anonymous said...

It is beyond our education system but our society as a whole. It has created a vacuum of imcompetent individuals.

Anonymous said...

You must respect the culture around the work place, must have a good attidute because tyou are thw one who to learn. So learn with respect.

Ms Yati said...

As an intern, Internship program is for you to learn new things and the real working environment to prepare yourself before you leave your Universities. This kind of attitude is not acceptable at all.