How to deal with intern

LegacyUser

Hello
I started my first job out of college about a month and a half ago. Its a great job for a very small company and exactly what I wanted, so I am happy out. This is a bit of a rant though, but I do need some advice to handle the situation
At the moment, apart from more senior members of staff I am the only permanent, full time worker.
Everyone else doing my job are interns with the opportunity to become permanent if they/the boss wants. One of them, who has been here for nearly 5 months now is taking the opportunity and will be a permanent member of staff from next month onward. This guy is a good worker and we work together alot so I'm happy he's taking the chance and I'm actually kinda looking forward to it working with him more. Lets call him S so things don't get too confusing later on :P
The problem lies with the other intern who has been here now since about April. I know him from college because he was in the year above me. lets call him B

B doesn't do a very good job. Constantly making silly mistakes, we cant and dont trust him. The work is generally quite menial but needs to be done carefully as small mistakes can lead to major **** ups.
S told me that alot of his day is taken up by following B around and rectifying B's mistakes.

The week before last he went home for the weekend and pulled a sickie on monday, then turned up on tuesday and went back to bed at 2 o'clock. We all know he was on drinking/taking yokes all weekend because he told us.
B and S had a major argument the other week because B had made another silly mistake. Unfortunately neither me nor S has the authority to really tell him to pull his head out of his ass. I'm not the confrontational type so I wouldn't do it anyway. But S has tried a few times, only for B to tell him to stop moaning and then he throws a little tantrum.

It all seems to have come to a head though. Last week B really ****ed up.
It was fairly costly error and he went to apologise to the boss. Now from what B tells me of this meeting I think the boss might have been a bit harsh. But alot of it I would say was true. Apparently the boss told him that he walks around with his head in the clouds (true) and that he is over confident (true). B had a big rant about it to me afterwards, somehow he believes he is the best worker here and does his job better than everyone else. I just nodded and agreed even though the best worker here is actually S.
Unfortunately comparisons were made between me and B I don't know what exactly but I'm not comfortable with it.
I think it will only breed resentment, I don't seem to be helping myself as sometimes after work I call into the bosses office to ask questions about why we are doing things a certain way, whats this piece of equipment for, can I do this differently etc. All the interns (apart from S) seem to think I'm just in there for a chat and have started to take the piss out of me for it. Thinking that me and the boss are best buddies. I told them that I just ask him stuff and let him know about what we've done or changed that day.
We're not best of pals, but I do get on with him even though he is not the most aproachable guy in the world.

So I don't know what to do. B's attitude pisses me off and there is nothing I can do about it. He seems to think he is above me in the pecking order just because he is here longer as well. Keeps trying to tell me how to do things despite the fact that I have alot more previous experience than him.
And I don't want to seem like an ass licker to the boss but I'm not trying to be one, I'm just trying to do my job better and make a good impression. Its almost like a school mentality were anyone who gets friendly with the teacher is a swot.

Now I love my job and I know I'm good at it despite still having alot to learn. No way in hell am I leaving here, but I really need advice on how to handle this situation so I don't crack up.

chris85

What situation do you mean? You are on good terms with the boss and you ask about things, the other interns think you are dossing? Who cares what they think?

padma

What are you worried about? Just don't get involved in the drama, you have a job, everyone else is an intern, theres bound to be a bit of jealousy etc, though you can't control how people think. Keep doing your job and relax.

tatli_lokma

OP, you are getting unneccessarily embroiled in office politics. It is understandable since you are just out of college and finding your feet in the working world, but really, you need to butt out and not participate in all this.

You are not either S or B's manager, so their performance is none of your concern unless underperformance has a direct impact on your own personal work. Do not worry about the impact it has on other workers - that is there battle to fight, not yours. In addition, it is not for you to decide who gets the permanent roles so again, don't involve yourself.

You seem to have made friends with S and that is fine - you can be a sympathetic listener, but be careful about being seen to take sides and more importantly be careful that you don't get seen as being hostile to the other worker based upon the problems they have with your friend.

If you have an issue with B's work then you can't really sit there passive aggressive and nod and agree with them and then go behind their back with other workers and talk about their work ethic. That makes you look incredibly two faced and won't help the situation.

I seriously think you need to step back from it all, just do your own work, don't worry about what others are saying or them trying to get a reaction from you. Instead, focus on building your own career and let others do the same - don't concern yourself about their behaviour.

And it is a hard thing to learn when you start work, but this is not college - you do not need to be friends with your co-workers. You will find as your career progresses that you will make friends with colleagues, but you need to know how to manage those relationships. We have all made friends with people in work only to have it back fire. With the exception of one or two people I have worked with I do not have personal relationships with colleagues. I am friendly, but not friends. We have a good working relationship where we can discuss things and work well together, and we take a polite interest in each others personal lives, but it is generally purely professional. There are a few people I have worked with who have had work ethics or performance I have questioned, but unless I was personally responsible for the, or unless their behaviour impacted directly on me I have kept it to myself. And I have never nodded and agreed with someone when I think they are actually a lazy git - I would be more inclined to be as non-committal as possible and would advise them to discuss their concerns with their manager.

You really need to step out of this situation as it really is none of your business.

Lucena

To be honest, you don’t really have a problem. The fact that you regularly take time to talk to your boss about your work, ask questions, offer improvements or changes in the way things are done, all mean that your boss knows you’re someone who’s motivated and professional.

The fact that B has already screwed up numerous times that your boss is aware of, means that your boss is aware of his weaknesses.

I’d say nothing if I were you, keep working as you are. The only time I would actually say something is if you end up having to take on some of B’s workload and this stops you doing your current tasks effectively, but for the moment that doesn’t seem to be the case.

[Jackass]

OP, just keep doing what you're doing, stay out of B's business, it's not your place to correct him or chase after him (the mistake S is making), just do your job and it seems like B's antics aren't going unnoticed, so let management deal with it.

As for what other people think in the office, who gives a sh*t. The person who will get furthest in life is the person who takes the job seriously and wants to make things better. Being an innovator, not a sheep who sits there mindlessly all day following protocol and not thinking twice about it and making mistakes because they don't think and lose concentration / focus.

You sound like a good worker, keep it up and let everyone else deal with their own jobs. If people take the piss at any stage for how you go about your business, never ever rise to it, comment on it or draw out a conversation about it, just laugh it off and keep doing what you're doing, never let is show that it bothers you either. The comments will eventually stop as people will get bored looking for a reaction.

Also, it's a fact of life in office politics that those type of workers (the "comments" people) would be the type to talk behind your back / be cliquey against you. This is typical office politics type stuff, so I would advise keeping your social life and working life as two different things. Eventually, you're the type of person that ends up being that type of persons boss.