absolution 8

[acobviously]

I am not big time. I am just an intern at a small manufacturing company. I feel like I have not lived up to my end of the bargain on this job due to my slackness. I know I am only making beans, but I haven't earned them this time. I am resolved to come clean with the owner and return a portion of my pay. Advice?

 

[HgTX]

[This may be a troll, but I'm taking the bait...]

I doubt they have the accounting setup to accept return pay. Just shape up and be a good intern from here on.

Hg

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[TheTick]

Honesty may be the "best policy" but it can be hell on relationships. Your relationship with your boss will almost certainly be permanently damaged. Just stop slacking and hope the improvement is noted.

Shut up, grow up, move on.

Honesty may be the best policy, but insanity is a better defense.

http://www.EsoxRepublic.com

-SolidWorks API VB programming help

 

[MadMango]

You know you are a slacker, change your ways. If you don't have enough work, ask for it, or see if others need assistance.

...or not.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of these Forums?

 

[Ussuri]

Advice you say? You admitting to slacking? Job bore you? Feel like you are above doing what is asked of you? Just can't be bothered? Got stoned at lunchtime?

It would cost most companies more money in time and effort to take some of your 'beans' off you. If your boss has noticed you slacking, then you have blown it. No chance of a re- hire there then. Keep your money, and sort yourself out.

 

[acobviously]

I am sincere and not a troll.

If they can't accept it back, what do I do? Not cash the check? Refuse the next one? Ask for a pay decrease?

I understand y'alls "just do better" idea. But I have been trying and failing. Not just here, but other areas too. What does it mean to hold yourself accountable or to accept responsibility if there are no consequences? And doing better now doesn't make restitution for my past actions.

There is another concern. Even though I am temporary, I got this job based on a regular's endorsement. I don't want to mess up his relationship to the powers that be.

 

[MadMango]

"There's no use crying over spilled milk... just find a big enough rag to clean up the mess." © MadMango

What does it mean to hold yourself accountable or to accept responsibility if there are no consequences?

The consequences have already been stated, you will be remembered when you are ready to enter the work force, and will not be hired where you have interned.

And doing better now doesn't make restitution for my past actions.

It shows that you are capable of learning from your mistakes and improving yourself.

If you are truly bothered by the money, quit. If you are not that bothered by the money, then spend it on donuts or pizza for the guys out on the shop floor. Not cashing your check will only cause frustration for the bean counters.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of these Forums?

 

[JAE]

I would simply work some extra time, extra effort, etc. over the next several years (your call as to how much) and not report the hours or allow them to compensate you for the effort.

Three things will happen:

1. You will inocuously pay back your employer and thus provide you with an honest means of absolution.

2. You will improve your company's performance and thus make your employer happy.

3. You will have improved yourself.

 

[ykee]

If you've been slacking off, your boss knows it, I'm sure. He likely does not really care, since you are an intern, and hence temporary.

The effect will be a poor reference in the future -- You do NOT want this.

Go to your boss, ask him for tasks and close supervision to the point of micromanagement. This should remove your ability to procrastinate/surf the internet etc. The bottom line is: future employers will ask for references from your internships, and this one will give you a poor reference, in the long term this is a far bigger deal for you than not earning your pay.

 

[AMN4]

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

Are you more interested in easing your own conscience and trying to make yourself feel better? Instead, don't make life difficult for your boss and don't make the one who recommended you look like a dummy.

For your penance, give 110% effort for the remainder of your internship.

As for the money, you can send it to me. My address is ... ;-)

Give the money to charity.

 

[HgTX]

Not to excuse you for your behavior, but if your employer hasn't given you feedback on your performance, then they are partly (but in the minority share) to blame. Internship is in part about learning how to be an employee, and those who take on interns take on the responsibility of helping to develop that employee. Have you received no feedback from them whatsoever? How long have you been there?

Really, trying to return money or not cash the check is not going to help anything and will likely make it quite worse, because then they'll see you not just as useless but also annoying or even a little crazy.

How much longer is your internship for? If it's open-ended, or will last a while longer, then you stand a chance to improve. Just don't engage in behaviors you know are wrong. It's not that hard. If it is that hard, you have problems that we can't solve for you. If you're close to the end of your term, and they're just waiting for you to get the hell out of there, then as other have said your consequence will be a poor evaluation that will hurt your chances of future employment.

What exactly do you consider "slacking"? Why is "don't be a slacker" difficult advice to take? If by "slacking" you mean you actively waste the company's time engaging in non-company activities like recreationally surfing the web, then just DON'T DO THAT.

If, instead, you feel like you do spend all your time working but your productivity isn't what you think it should be, or you're just not as good at it as you think you should be, that's really no big deal. That's what being an intern is about--you're a beginner and you're not going to be an instant expert at what you do. If that's all the problem is, then you are *not* in any trouble with your boss, and you just need to go to them and ask them for suggestions for how to improve.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies: faq731-376

 

[casseopeia]

acobviously,

I forgive you. (you sharing that bud at lunchtime?)

"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"

 

[TheTick]

To repent means to change. If you do not change, you have not repented, and you are just exercising self-indulgent self-flagellation.

Good work habits are simple: do things you should and don't do things you shouldn't.

 

[btrueblood]

"And doing better now doesn't make restitution for my past actions."

Want some cheese to go with that?

Sometimes in life you don't get absolution, and you have to live with yourself and the fact that you screwed up. Whining about it doesn't help, it just sucks other poor souls into your pitiful morass. Be a man (or a woman), suck it up and get past it. Do a good job from here on out.

 

[ewh]

Thanks for the smile, casseopeia...

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. - [small]Thomas Jefferson [/small]

 

[casseopeia]

your welcome, ewh...it's the least I could do on a Friday

I was inspired by a Ludacris song I downloaded recently, Blueberry Yum Yum. Very funny lyrics.

"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"

 

[philipoakley]

Who says you haven't done enough work. A technical director of a major aerospace company oft recounted his younger days when he would tell his boss that he felt he hadn't done enough. His boss would tell him that the results of his few hours thinking would have saved/made the company many weeks of his pay. [He now has an OBE and many letters after his name]

The value of your work is not a linear relation to either the hours taken nor the money paid.

Did any of the 'slacking' result in truly bad or dangerous results. That would be far more of a concern.

Philip

 

[PhilBW]

I understand y'alls "just do better" idea. But I have been trying and failing. Not just here, but other areas too. What does it mean to hold yourself accountable or to accept responsibility if there are no consequences.

It sounds to me like you need to grow up and quit making excuses for yourself. Anyone who can not hold himself accountable or accept responsibility without some sort of reward or punishment system should not be an engineer, or any other sort of professional. If you truly can't correct this deficiency on your own, you need counseling. Otherwise you should not waste your money on college. Get a menial job where someone plans your work for you and makes sure you get it done.

 

[controlnovice]

Could you be clinically depressed?

Nothing to be ashamed about.

______________________________________________________________________________
This is normally the space where people post something insightful.

 

[csd72]

You should give all your money to charity, live under a tree, and eat only dhal and rice for the next year.

And you should do some traditional meditation

"owatanah...
owatanah..siam."