A
female
age
41-50,
anonymous
writes:I have a potential problem at work. Our company is really small - my boss, who has two other companies, and I. In the office (which is basically one room in his otherwise big apartment) there are only two desks, one of which is for my boss’ assistant (who’s employed in one of his two other companies).I mostly work from home, unless we have an intern that I need to train and manage. Then, untill they're trained, we all need to somehow work from the office and it is really uncomfortable for everybody.A month ago my boss decided to take on two interns. He would pay them miserably and they would get some basic work done. They’re both students. One of them is really good, listens carefully and works hard. The other one… well… I think there must be something really wrong with her and I need to deal with it. *I can’t really put a name on it, so I’ll give you some examples. If you ask her a question, you can see that she’s trying to “read” your reaction before giving an answer she thinks might please you. And she’s always trying to impress. She just can’t say that there’s something she doesn’t know. She even lied in the interview that she was fluent in Chinese. It turned ut that she can understand it a little bit.After explaining what needs to be done, I always send my interns emails with detailed instructions (even though we’re basically sharing a desk!) so that I’ll have a trace. I don’t know why but she always tries to do more (to please me/my boss) which inevitably leads to errors or pointless work. We’ve discussed that and I kindly asked her, for her sake as well, to ask me before she does anything that wasn’t planned. Needless to say, she didn’t listen.She’s always looking over my shoulder (I don’t mind since I never do personal stuff at work), trying to see what I’m working on, so that she can have a “smart” comment – never a question. She pretends to know everything and never asks for additional explanations, which leads to errors as well. I once “caught” her googling a term we used, she obviously didn’t know. She maybe thinks that asking for help is a sign of weakness and that we may judge her.She always tries to compete with the other intern and finish her tasks first, which again leads to errors. I simply cannot count on her. I tried giving her simpler stuff and generally less to do. Asking her again if she needs help with work and asking her to always ask if she wants to do something else, was pointless. She nodded and continued to do things her way.She’s always looking to please my boss and his assistant. Even though she hadn’t drunk coffee when she came, she started to with them. When I’m alone with the interns she always has tea. It’s the same with lunch. She never takes lunch breaks unless they’re there so that they can eat together. I have a feeling that she’s calculated and without scruples. Not understanding the issue she went behind other intern’s back and mine as well to report an error that the other intern had made. As I said she didn’t understand the issue and there was no mistake. My boss doesn’t know anything about the work itself, he’s just the owner of the company, so he called me to help him understand the issue. That’s when I realizd what happened and explained that there’s no error. However, instead of feeling bad she just pretended that nothing happened. I asked her in front of everybody that next time she spoke firstly with the other intern and then with me.I have an impression that my boss doesn’t care and that he’s even flattered with this kind of ass-kissing. I know that his assistant certainly is.She’ll be here for a couple of months more and I need to deal with her before she does some real damage. Ever since I have trained them, I go to the office once a week when we meet to discuss our progress and any possible issues. The deal was that all three of us were supposed to work from home. Without even telling me she decided to work from the office. She even tried to change our hours! I dealt with that… but it’s really strange…I’d appreciate some advice on how to deal with it…
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reader, anonymous, writes (22 May 2015): This is verified as being by the original poster of the questionThank yu again for your answers... I guess I have no choice. I found her some work where she can do least harm. I can't wait for her to leave... but I'l live!
A
female
reader, Honeypie +, writes (21 May 2015):
 Ah, I kind of figured it was a favor to a friend. In THAT case I would try and "endure" her for the remaining two months. I would find her some HARMLESS busywork to occupy herself with.
Messing with family connections can land YOU in hot water, and you don't want that.
I had a boss who's niece came as a "temp" (she had lost her job and Uncle had promised she could work at his company till she found something else) Now she thought she could negotiate prices, change line up in what was bought from overseas, color-schemes and goodness knows what else. His assistant pulled ME aside and asked me to find her busy work that would keep her away from manning the phones and talking to costumers. So for 2 months... I "ran interference" - I actually just got her to work on her resume/CV and help her write applications. It also meant by the time she left... I had a BUNCH of work piled up.
Family and business... can work, but it doesn't always.
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A
female
reader, CindyCares  +, writes (21 May 2015):
 Maybe not SO tough, OP. The intern is only going to stay two more months , and , although she tries to hog more work and more responsibilities- she still is an intern, how much damage she can realistically do in 2 months ?
Besides, that's your boss' company and your boss' choice - if he values favouring personal friends over having office work performed according appropriate guidelines- ah well, maybe he is being a dumb boss, but "fixing dumb boss " is not within your job description , I am sure...
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reader, anonymous, writes (21 May 2015): This is verified as being by the original poster of the questionThank you both for your advice!
I've just learned (talked to teh assistant) that the intern is boss's friends daughter! That's why he took her in the first place. We never needed two of them, so he took the first one to make sure that work will get done, and then he took her as a service to her friend.
The situation ha sjust got worse...
I live in a country where things get mostly done through connections (family, money or both). This wil be tough...
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (20 May 2015): You need to be upfront and open with you boss and explain that together you need to present a united front. Arrange for you and your boss to discuss the approach and together invite her to a meeting and put it all to her.
You've been subtle and it hasn't worked, she seems to think she can go behind people's backs which is why you need to approach this with your boss.
I don't know the rules of employment around interns but if she doesn't make improvements I would be considering terminating her internships and warning her this is a possible outcome if she continues to make constant errors.
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A
female
reader, Honeypie +, writes (20 May 2015):
Call your Boss for a private meeting, and tell him she is NOT working out. That you spend more time "fixing" issues SHE is causing then HER actually being helpful. BE honest and be professional.
Is she a friend or family members daughter (of the owner, I mean)? If so, that CAN be trickier to deal with.
Personally, I would have "fired" her or let her go a LONG time ago. What does her contract say? Was there a trial period? Or can she be let go any time?
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