I got a job with a local sports team where I was hired to work directly with upper management and the head of the company in particular. I’d looked up to the guy for a long time and was beyond excited to get the chance to work with him. It was legitimately my dream internship and it sounded like there was a good chance it would turn into a full-time offer. I interviewed during the summer and then didn’t hear anything back until 3 weeks into my fall semester, almost 2 months after my last interview. I reached out multiple times and never heard anything back and just figured I didn’t get it. This turned out to be a problem because the drop-date for classes had passed and my entire class schedule was before noon. The guy I was hired to work with was usually only in the office in the morning, so I only had 5-6 interactions with him in my 5 months there. Even though I did really good work, stayed late, and worked a ton on my own time on the weekends, the whole management team viewed me as lazy and unreliable because I could never be there in the mornings. I offered to come in to the office on weekends but was told I couldn’t clock more hours, so I just worked from home or came I to the office without clocking in.

The SVP of HR called me in her office and explained that they wanted me to finish up the project I was on and then I would be done. I put hundreds of hours into that project to leave a good final impression. The President had explained how important the project was to the future of the franchise, but never responded to emails or communications with his secretary when it was done. I spent 2 weeks trying to track him down and was given multiple dates to present and each time he would leave the building and not communicate it with me. On my last day I just left the presentation on his desk with a thank you note that mentioned I would be happy to come in any time. I never heard from him, or anyone at the company again.

This was a major bummer because I put so much time into everything I did for them and did a good job but I will never be able to use them as a reference because they think I was lazy. These guys have a lot of influence here locally as well. I’ve taken the experience off of my resume because I don’t want any future employers to contact them since they probably wouldn’t have much good to say.

Funny side note, the HR person that fired me recommended I read “Crucial Conversations” on one of my first weeks. The day she told me they didn’t want me to stay, I started the conversation my stopping by her office to tell her I read the book and enjoyed it. Her exact response was “speaking of difficult conversations... we think it’s best if you finish the project you’re working on and then you end your time here. How quickly can you finish?” Lol 😂