Friday, April 24, 2020

My intern's work term has been extended at the eleventh hour!

It's amazing what a difference a day makes. Well, it's kind of more than a day.

On Tuesday, I had a talk with my manager. He let me know that he was trying his best to extend our intern to stay an additional four months. He told me, "Don't hold your breath." It has been difficult due to hiring freezes.

Yesterday, I had a good chat with my intern. I thanked him for everything. He said nice things about working with me. It was great.

Well, in our team meeting, our manager asked me if it was okay to assign work to our intern. I had to remind him that his time with us was limited. It was only then that my manager said that our intern is with us for another four month.

Both my intern and I are ecstatic that he's staying. He genuinely likes working with us. It was just odd how secretive our manager was about sharing this news, which drives me nuts.

The best part of the chat that I had with my intern was that we both like Marie Kondo's method of organizing. He has her book. Impressive!

8 comments:

  1. In fairness to your manager, it's possible *he* didn't know until the last moment because *his* manager kept him in the dark. Some days you just have to count your blessings before your chickens hatch.

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    1. I have worked with my manager for six years. I know how he ticks. He is not a good communicator and is secretive. He asked my intern to keep it under wraps before our entire group knew.

      Having said that, I am still thrilled that he is with our team. Unfortunately, I won't be supervising him, but we still work with him.

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  2. I am sure that it was your positive thoughts which were transmitted that meant your intern was kept on.

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    1. I do speak highly of this intern, so your comment is accurate. It's unfortunate that I'm no longer supervising him directly, but we'll still be in contact.

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  3. Hurray! What a lovely bit of news. Altho I'm curious as to why there was a need for secrecy. Perhaps he was afraid that there may have been some last minute changes. Some people are overly cautious that way... afraid to mention something in the event (even if there is no likelihood of it happening) that the rug gets pulled from under them.

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    1. My manager is odd that way. He has always kept certain details to himself. It's not until there's some sort of trigger that prompts him to share the news. My saying that the intern had one more workday before his term ended trigged my manager to talk about the extension.

      He is somewhat cautious, but I feel there's some underlying reason personality-wise that makes him keep certain details to himself.

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  4. I'm continually surprised by how organizations function when their managers undermine their teams by doing these kinds of things. But good the intern is staying. You like him, and I'm sure the added hands will help your team.

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    1. I hear you! My manager is the type that says one thing and does the exact opposite. He isn't the best role model and luckily, he isn't mine.

      Thanks! I am thrilled that my intern is staying for four more months. We get along well and he makes huge contributions to our team.

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