Here’s a sob story from almost exactly one year ago, but it still gives me chills. Enjoy, if you dare…
Last Summer, like many other students, I was looking for a good internship. Since that summer was my last “summer vacation” before graduating, I knew it was really important to get a good experience… and just maybe, one that could later turn into a job.
I did all the right things- put together a solid portfolio, designed a clean, professional stationery set and resume, made a nifty “leave behind” showcasing some of my best samples, when contacting potential employers, I was firm but not too aggressive.
In the end, all my hard work had paid off- my two top choices both called me back! They were both fantastic companies; The first, a very large and well renowned ad agency, and the second, a smaller but respected branding firm with a great body of work.
The smaller company made their offer first, via an e-mail. I was very excited, but before I gave an answer I wanted to hear back from the bigger company, just to know what my options were. Then, one of the managers from the big agency called me at home… we chatted for a while, a sort of informal interview (I had already interviewed with two other people from the company).
At the end of the call he said he thought I would be a “good fit” and that they “would love to have me there for the Summer”. He went on to tell me that they frequently hire from their intern pool, even mentioned that the intern in my position last year was in charge of a few major accounts now. He told me that his company recognized and rewarded hard work. I’ve always had a pretty serious work ethic, so hearing that this would be noticed was just what I wanted to hear.
It was still a really tough choice, because both places seemed great, but by the end of that phone call it seemed clear which internship could potentially offer me more, in terms of life after school. “When can I start?” I asked the manager. He said he didn’t have a calendar in front of him, so we’d figure that out later. Then he suggested I could come in for a day to “meet the team”. I said yes, and hung up the phone, ecstatic.
I called the smaller agency to tell them I made my choice. I spoke to one of the partners, and he said he understood where I was coming from, and there were no hard feelings. We spoke for a long time, and he was so nice and interesting to talk to that I began to feel really sorry that I wouldn’t get to work for them.
A few weeks went by, and the day came to “meet the team” at the big ad agency. I was greeted by the manager whom I had spoken with before. He apologized, but said he’d picked a “bad day” for me to come in… his department had a big pitch to prepare for the next day, and he would be too busy to spend time with me. He took me to human resources, where I met a very nice woman who said to come by at the end of the day to fill out my new hire paperwork. Then he introduced me to his whole team. I told everyone I was really looking forward to working with them, even asked if I could help out that day- they said no thanks, but I should feel free to watch them work and get a sense of things. It was a fun day!
I’d been there for a few hours when I saw the manager putting on his coat. I rushed over to ask if he was leaving, he said he was going home for a bit and coming back later in the evening. I asked him if he had my start date yet, he said no and that he was too busy to think about that now- he said we’d talk in a week and settle everything. He seemed a bit gruff, but I thought nothing of it as he was under stress. I wished him luck on the project, and got my stuff together to leave as well.
As instructed, I stopped by human resources for my paperwork. The woman who had been so friendly before was now acting like she’d never seen me. I told her I was there for my new hire paperwork, and she said those forms were only for people who would be coming to work there… and that SOMEBODY ELSE HAD ALREADY BEEN HIRED FOR THE POSITION. Stunned, I said there must be a mistake- I was the one hired! Wasn’t I??? She said it was too bad the manager had left, he’d know, but she was sure it would all be cleared up soon. Bewildered, but still trying to keep my cool, I said goodnight to everyone I’d met and walked out to the subway.
My head was spinning. What had happened? Had I misunderstood him on the phone? Had I done something to offend someone during my visit? No, I’d barely spoken! …Maybe I hadn’t spoken enough? What happened between that phone call and now?
I tried to put it out of my mind until the day he had said he’d call. After all, it was probably just a misunderstanding! After all the good energy I got from everyone I met on my visit (up until the last ten minutes, at least) how could anything be wrong? Why didn’t anyone look at me strangely when I said “Hi, I’ll be working with you this Summer” ? It had to be a mix up, it just had to be…
The day came for the manager to call. The phone didn’t ring once. The next day came and went, no call. And the day after that. All the way to the weekend, no call, no email. I told myself he must just be really busy, an intern isn’t going to be at the forefront of his mind! I called Monday morning, and was put into his voicemail. I said how nice it was to meet him, how eager I was to work there, and that he could call me whenever was good for him. The next day, I re-forwarded my resume and samples (he had asked for them during my visit, he said he had misplaced them), and once again said how nice it was to meet everyone, and couldn’t wait to, et cetera, et cetera…
Weeks went by, with no response. I didn’t want to nag him, but if I needed to find another internship– time was running out! I left phone messages, emails… nothing. Total silence. I even tried to contact the woman from human resources, to see if she had learned anything new. No reply. What had I done to deserve this?
By a certain point, a straightforward “no” would have been welcome news. It was the silence, the complete lack of any response that was killing me. After six weeks and, I’ll admit it, some tears, I gave up. I called the other company, the good guys who had offered me the job weeks before, to see if the offer still stood.
After some hesitation (and thanks to a strong recommendation from one of my most valued mentors, to whom I’ll always be grateful for this) they agreed to bring me on after all. I had a great time working there, and learned a lot. All in all, it was a perfect internship.
A few weeks after I started there, I got an email one day; it was the manager from the ad agency, with the human resources woman CC’d on the email. He said he was sorry, but they had decided to go with another candidate for the internship, and he wished me good luck. It had been almost three months since the last time we had spoken. All I could do was laugh.
So in the end, everything worked out for the best- I definitely believe I ended up at a better place where I was more involved and valued by my employers, plus I really enjoyed myself.
The epilogue of this story came months later; my boss found out, from another designer colleague, that the big ad agency had a notorious hiring practice… apparently, when hiring regular employees, they were known to promise the same job to up to three candidates, to keep them dangling on the line until the real guys in charge could make their decision.
So it wasn’t just interns that they treat like dirt, and it wasn’t because I had done something wrong. Even with that information, that it wasn’t just me this had happened to, it still really hurt…
So, what could I have done?
What I should have done, on that early phone call with the manager where he said “love to have you here for the Summer”, I should have thanked him and promptly asked for it in writing. Just as the good branding agency had done, a job offer doesn’t legally mean anything until it’s put in writing; then there is a record of it. Had I asked for this and been refused, I would have known something was fishy and could have avoided scrambling for a job at the last minute.
Sometimes, it’s hard to be pushy when you really want something, like a job or an internship- if the person hiring you seems busy or distracted, you might worry that being too aggressive will turn them off. But asking for documentation of a job offer isn’t being pushy; it’s totally reasonable. So remember, when applying for or accepting a new job, protect yourself, make sure all correspondence is documented. If you don’t take care of you, who will?
Good luck, and I hope this never happens to you…
