<p>I have worked summers since I was 14. Other than my first factory job, I have found my internships through my HS network, friend's parents and even the listing at the college I'm going to.</p>
<p>I am with my mom in CA, still working for college counselor, catching up for lost time ready to end my gap year with 3 months in Europe made affordable by the generous bonus of my ibanking internship.</p>
<p>Thank you, Suze, for sharing to give me a better idea of where you are coming from and also how others procure such internships. Have fun in Europe!</p>
<p>Sure. Internships are really important to me, I've loved each of them. I also chose a college that will allow me to have many more than a typical college. For what I want to do, the experience will really help me.</p>
<p>I do think great internships are most likely not going to be coming through HR. Even if you don't know anyone, you can find out a lot about a company and it's people simply by using Google.</p>
<p>Suze, indeed my own D did not get her internship through HR and it wasn't even an advertised internship. She had no connection or networking to it either. Yes, the internet can be your friend. My D had seen an internship listed on the internet for a firm that has offices in several major US cities. The internship was for the NYC office. She went to visit the firm's website to read more about the firm. While there, she discovered that the firm has an office in Paris. While there was no internship listed anywhere for that office, she opted to write them blindly because, well, she loves France and she can speak French. She wrote them in French and sent a resume. The principal of the firm wrote her back and asked her for a portfolio. He wrote her back again (in French) and offered her a job for the summer. So, she truly found them on the internet and it wasn't a known position but just a chance she took to write them. She has dealt with the principals of the firm, nobody under them, no HR people, no secretaries. It was all direct. And she couldn't be happier to be going off to Paris to do the kind of internship (in her career field) she wanted right along but it has the added bonus of another experience living in France and being immersed in the language and culture, even though she wasn't aiming for France but applied only to US firms besides this one. She lived in France last summer doing a totally different kind of job. So, yes, she did find out about a company online and just wrote away to them!</p>
<p>Soozie, I don't know the situation and I don't know the person. Over the years (oh so many of them) I've met some managers who are real pains in the neck, both as bosses and colleagues. In many cases these people were also highly successful money makers for the corporation and their bad behavior is tolerated.</p>
<p>In the case that the OP described, it was Manager A and only Manager A who took an interest in the OP's daughter. Manager B asked his/her admin to send the resume to HR, while Manager A personally responded.</p>
<p>I think that Manager A was sincerely interested in the applicaant and sincerely surprised that she was "talking to" another department. She seemed to have reacted badly and then thought better of it. Of course I'm speculating here but I've seen enough conflict between hiring managers and HR departments to have some basis for this argument: I think that Manager A had planned to bring in the OP's daughter as an intern without the involvement of HR and learning that not only was HR already involved but that also a possibly rival manager was interested just caused aggravation.</p>
<p>The point is that the OP's daughter is interested in this organization. She should try to uncover the political motivation and not be so sensitive to a snappy manager.</p>
<p>soozie, that sounds great! What type of internship is it?</p>
<p>Wow Suze, you seem to have had some very interesting experiences for such a young person. How did you come to spend a whole year in China by yourself, and what did you do there? (I remember you mentioning this somewhere else).</p>
<p>Momrath...I totally understand that analysis of the organization. I just think this person was too "snappy" to the intern applicant, and didn't come across as professional. Words like "a reflection on you" and so forth were just too much in my opinion. Writing a letter and saying we no longer need you (her perogative of course) and then later sending one and saying the internship was being finalized is just weird. Did she not realize she already told the young college kid to forget about it and move on? The organization may be fine. This manager may even be fine. And the whole internal workings may have been sticky, whatever. I just thought her tone for dealing with a college intern applicant wasn't what I would have expected. All the rest you mentioned certainly is understandable. </p>
<p>Suze, my daughter is pursuing architecture and is interning in an architectural firm.</p>
<p>And yes, I agree with chocoholic that indeed you (Suze) have had a lot of interesting experiences with work before going to college!</p>
<p>I guess the point that I'm trying to make is that especially in high stress fields (which are often high paid fields) managers can get fairly churlish and young people who aspire toward jobs in these environments need to develop a thick skin early on.</p>
<p>Everyone is sensitive to abuse. Everyone hates an inconsiderate or inconsistent boss. But, you know what, they're out there and more likely than not you're going to encounter them along the way. Again, even more so in high pressured competitive careers.</p>
<p>I wish the OP's daughter well. If she's happy with the job she accepted, then she's all set. If she still harbors an interest in Manager A's organization, then I'd swallow the sensitivity and try again to connect with this dragon lady. It could be a learning experience in more ways than one. :)</p>
<p>Momrath, actually the woman was quite nasty in how she spoke with D on the phone that morning as soon as D mentioned that someone else had forwarded the resume to HR. She practically accused her of sneaking... jeez..She also said that she had been too busy to send the resume to HR. But as soon as she heard that HR had it, wow, she totally freed up her calendar to go have a tirade in the HR office. Oh well. It takes all kinds of folk.</p>
<p>In any case, if she was truly interested in hiring, their first conversation was 7 weeks ago. I don't believe that this woman has her act together, as she was not able to provide a job description in all that time either.</p>
<p>All I can say is thank goodness this happened the day before the other internship deadline, you know, the one with all the moolah :)</p>
<p>Architecture in Paris? WOW!!!!!!! I wish I could hvae 6 careers.</p>
<p>Chocoholic, I went with a program called School Year Abroad which is run by Andover, St. Paul's and Exeter but open to all. They place you with a host family and you take a full slate of classes including APs, everything but math and english in the host language.</p>
<p>And I agree momrath. Some of the on the job behavior I saw surprised me at first. Thick skin is important. I had a boss ask me to walk his dog! It's all part of the job and he sure did pay me back!!</p>
<p>Momrath, I definitely agree, and I think I said this many posts ago, that this was a GOOD experience for the OP's daughter to have, even though it wasn't very pleasant. She is sure to come in contact with such types of experiences in the work place again! I can think of some times my kids have been spoken to in not very polite or respectful ways by someone in a position of authority over them, or accused them of something they did not do, etc. There are ways of asserting oneself respectfully to set the record straight and then there are times to just shut up and take it and realize where that person is coming from and not to take it personally if you have done nothing wrong. It is all part of learning what the work world can be like and part of growing up. Not everything can be smooth sailing for our kids and so these experiences help them see the real world and how to deal with it (even though as a parent we can wish nobody ever unfairly snapped at our kids or treated them roughly).</p>
<p>soozie, forget about the kids, I wish nobody ever unfairly snapped at ME! :)</p>
<p>We have an inside joke about the daily e-mail. This is the progression:
I am shocked and dismayed!
How could this happen!
Why wasn't I informed!
It's your fault.</p>
<p>After we get the emotionalism out of the way, we can get down to solving the problem.</p>