office kitchen wars, finding a good internship, and more by Alison Green on June 4, 2018 I recorded a piece for the BBC about office kitchen wars — why office kitchens are always so filthy, and the scourge of people stealing their coworkers’ food. It’s three minutes long and you can listen here. Also, I was on Marketplace this weekend, talking about summer internships, including what to do if you have an absentee manager […] Read the full article →
we give our interns free housing — and there are problems by Alison Green on March 19, 2018 A reader writes: I train and manage a team of young (22-25) paid interns who, as part of their compensation, have free housing in a shared living space owned by my organization. Recently, one of my female interns told me (in tears) that the male interns repeatedly use the word “bitch” in their shared living […] Read the full article →
why didn’t I get a full-time offer after my internship? by Alison Green on January 16, 2018 A reader writes: Something has been bothering me for the last few months. I worked at a financial company as an intern over the summer. My job dealt with computer programming, so my assignments were based on that and a big group project presentation at the end of the summer. I was assigned to a […] Read the full article →
my intern has a terrible attitude by Alison Green on October 17, 2017 A reader writes: I’m struggling to figure out how to give feedback to an intern about the constant barrage of criticism she emits. The intern in question, “Alice,” spends one day a week here, along with several other interns, through a graduate-level academic program that will last four years. All of these interns are over […] Read the full article →
our interns are clueless about our office dress code by Alison Green on August 8, 2017 A reader writes: I’m a new manager. Each year, the company I work for brings on college students as interns. One thing I have noticed is the lack of following the dress code and unprofessional outfits from the interns. Our industry is on the conservative side and wearing suits and button-downs is expected for everyone, from […] Read the full article →
how to turn your internship into a full-time job offer by Alison Green on July 17, 2017 If you’re working in an internship this summer, you might be able to parlay it into a full-time job offer when the summer is over. But if that’s your goal, you need to be actively working toward it all summer long. Here’s how to best position yourself to make it happen. Observe the people around you, […] Read the full article →
how to survive your summer interns by Alison Green on July 10, 2017 It’s summer internship season, and your office may be getting overrun by summer interns. If you’re being aggravated by these fresh-faced young people who don’t quite know how the work world works yet – or if you’d just like to ensure your interns have a reasonably good experience in your organization – here’s some advice […] Read the full article →
I have to fire a highly inept summer intern by Alison Green on June 26, 2017 A reader writes: Every year the company I work for hires some college students for a three-month internship over the summer. It’s been one month and one of the interns is just not working out. He is not a jerky or malicious person, but he is an annoyance and is a complete hindrance to anyone […] Read the full article →
I’m embarrassed about the mistakes I made in my internship by Alison Green on June 12, 2017 A reader writes: Coming out of my internship in HR at a large financial company, I feel stupid and worthless. I’d like to know what you think. During lunch, I used to run with a group of women. It was a nice break for me because it was a chance for me to drop the […] Read the full article →
my intern told a horribly offensive joke at a meeting with other companies by Alison Green on April 26, 2017 A reader writes: Every spring, the company I work for hires interns. This year I was assigned an intern to train and manage for the first time. Two days ago I had a project meeting at another site and my boss said I should bring my intern as it would be a good experience for […] Read the full article →