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what's the joke?
Did they say you were about to be fired? What was the joke?
Breathe lol
Good point... Do you KNOW that you will be fired or do you THINK that you will be fired.. I mean... you have to fuck up really unimaginably badly to be fired for telling a joke..
that sucks. Try apologizing if you directly offended a particular person. Also, check in with your career office at school. They might have encountered something similar before & may have useful tips - do this only if you KNOW that you will be fired.
As long as it wasn't a crude joke (blatantly racist or comment about a specific employee), than you're handling it the best you can up to this point, especially asking HR if you can say "I quit". In the end, it's the perception of the boss, and not HR, that carries you forward.
Personally (and I'm not HR), and I'm hiring someone full-time, I'd laugh at the fact that it was due to a joke; people take the meaning of some random babble (talking) way too seriously.
Disease-stricken children are going through a "really tough time"; take a deep breath, you'll be fine.
They told me I have to pack up my things by the end of the day and turn in my office pass. The joke was not crude, nor was it blatantly racist or directed at anyone specific.
Side note: HR also knew about every single instance where I said that some HR event might not be useful. During an HR training thing, I told another intern that I have a lot of work to do and that "I wish I could be spending my time at my desk instead of this presentation." They brought that up when they fired me, even though it was 100% unrelated to the incident at hand. I said something like that about another event, and that was brought up too.
Tough.. Getting the option to say 'I quit' is important .. you can choose to include or exclude this on your resume later
Why did you delete the message that was quoted? You said it wasn't blatantly racist and then you provide an example that almost ensures that it is racist, and then you delete/edit it.
It is most likely a combination of factors that got you fired and this was the tip of the iceberg (or maybe half of it). Using your logic from the deleted thing you wrote, every race can say the n-word just because there was a lot of black people at your school and they told you about it.
.../../
The Asperger's is strong in this one.
Learn from your mistake. Stop spending so much time reading books and go socialize. Clearly you're lacking communication skills and street smarts.
The sad thing is I might actually have Asbergers. My parents don't believe in mental illness (lucky me) so they didn't let me get tested as a kid. As a stupid a question as this is, I've gotta know, will I be less desirable as a candidate on the Street if doctors say I have Asbergers?
So you said what appears to be a blantantly racist joke and are now being fired for it. Not a huge deal to be fired from the internship, I was fired from an internship for an even more irrelevant reason and it was never a problem. I just got a FT offer and went through the background check (had it on my resume) and everything was fine. I didnt list said employer as a reference, but HR didnt mention anything about not having them as a reference.
delete
This. pussy freshman and their pwm internships...
Dude wtf, this is such an shithead comment. I see literally nothing in the OP that suggests he has Asperger's.
I think he meant Ass Burgers
Fair?
This is some intense office culture..basically every words you said were somehow heard by HR...wish you best of luck
/./././../
Based on the joke you sent me via PM, I'm very surprised they sent you home packing. I've said that joke (the 2nd one) specifically and probably much worse. Though I've always known my audience, and I'm generally considered a pretty funny guy. Your first 'joke' wasn't a good one, that could easily be taken the wrong way and had poor taste.
Only explanation I can think is your tone and volume had to be wayyyy off and you had to have been with the wrong audience. And there is probably a few more of these instances you aren't telling us about that went south and added to the list of problems. I just don't see it otherwise.
You must have done something more than you're saying. You simply don't get fired for telling a non-offensive joke or saying an HR function is a waste of time.
In any case just leave it off of your resume. You're only going into sophomore year.
And therein lies the problem. HR told me that I literally called someone an "idiot." I didn't do this or anything close to it; I have never insulted anyone directly, let alone someone I work with, I'm just not that kind of person. I need to show them that they're making false accusations, but I don't know how.
At this point. You've been let go, its best to pack up your stuff and leave it off your resume. You'll still be able to land two more internships prior to leaving school and heading into your final year year recruiting.
What if they let me say "I quit? Can I leave it on my resume then?
Thats up to you. Also depends on how long you have been here (1 week vs 8 weeks). Think about it later.. For now, just get the option to say that you quit.
What kind of pussy work environment can you get fired for calling someone an idiot? I see people cuss at each other on a weekly basis. It had to of been a culmination of you making the stupid jokes, being socially inept, sucking at the work, and it got so bad that they decided they needed you out of there.
It's like believing in rational economic theory. I believe in rational work place theory. Everyone behaves a certain way under certain circumstances, and you were so unbelievably intolerant to have around - they fired you. Unless your work place falls in that .1% of work places where rational work place theory doesn't apply, which I highly doubt.
My advice to you is to never work in the Midwest. People are VERY sensitive and I've gotten my ass chewed a few times because I didn't grovel over someones title or ask them about their personal life.
If they havent ask for your resignation by this point, then the record will always show that you were "terminated with cause". I would suggest that you leave it off your resume for now, maybe put it back on after your next 2 internships or after your first real FT position as they will not be calling the reference by that point due to other more recent references. Just my .02 but I think you should just move on and not look back.
The problem with HR rules/laws is that PERCEPTION is all that matters. If the person "perceived" that you were calling someone an idiot by saying that they are uninteresting (or whatever) then that is what HR treats it as. Same with sexual harassment, if you tell the hunch-back 50 year old cleaning lady that she has on a nice shirt, she can claim that she was sexually harassed. Unless you are very important to the company, they are better off (in their view) terminating you and hoping that keeps the lawsuit away. Plus if they keep you, you will always be known as the guy that wanted to sleep with the old hunch-back cleaning lady. I personally would rather be terminated...
@CZtrader - this aspect of inappropriate workplace behaviour took me the longest to get up to speed on.
What you thought/meant/intended is irrelevant. As the offendor, it seems unfair at first instance to me, but I can understand how the balance of fairness come out this way.
You do get workplaces with people who seem almost primed to be offended, whether on their own behalf or on behalf of someone else. These sort of people are not interested in understanding the nuance of a comment, but just look out for opportunities to storm out of a conversation offended. They have low intellectual curiosity, but you have to conduct yourself to satisfy that lowest common denominator.
I've run into this multiple times, I work an environment that prides itself on office culture and being listed as one of the best places to work, I've heard almost everything from curse words to conversations about other ethnic groups and the words ratchet and twerk being thrown around and everyone laughs all around. (None of these came out of my mouth)
Thats all in open doors, behind them people get offended from the silliest things, I've been reprimanded for the smallest things that even my boss laughed at but since someone got their undies in a twist they had to do something about it. Which was ask me to apologize and that was the end of that. No real repercussion.
Only place I have ever heard of someone being fired for something said over lunch is Fidelity. Was the rat actually offended? Or was this a cut throat competitive move? Either way I know personally nothing would anger me more than working with a bunch of limp dick scrubs who get off on being HR's little spies. I would speak directly with this person who told HR, let him/her know that you won't forget it and you look forward to being his/her boss in the future. As far as Aspergers in finance I would say that it lends itself well to analysis cc The Big Short.
You are a sophomore - forget about this 'Internship' and focus on the other tangible/intangibles associated with being a college student... You'll thank me later
Well, I've found that I'll be able to say that "I quit" when asked about the job by other companies, which is a big relief. I suppose I can say that the culture wasn't a good fit. I'm curious as to what any of you would say.
Good! Now go get shit-faced
The guy who got offended is fken pussy! You need thick skin in this industry, and a small joke shouldn't have got you fired.
Hang in there man. I don't know how I'd deal with that situation, my mouth has gotten me into trouble in the past (suspended for saying a nasty insult in middle school) but not at work. Other posters are right - it's sophomore year and it's not the end of the world; it seems like you're handling it well from what you described.
Very curious about the joke, I'd appreciate a PM if you can. Good luck
Try to get your next internship in Germany, a bad sense of humour is a plus there.
Would you really like to work for that kind of company? I wouldn't. Why cannot you Americans just say what you want to the next employer? Do they really check those things? Find a place where people are less serious, would be good for your health.
Clearly you told a racist joke and threw around racial slurs. That's a pretty dumb thing to do, whether you're at work or not.
Don't internships come to a natural end anyway? I don't know why you'd have to tell anyone that you were fired, since people expect internships to end without a termination by either party. At most places, HR will just tell the next employer your dates of employment and your title......and nothing else.
Sorry to hear you got canned man. You gotta be careful with any joke which could be misinterpreted or flat out manipulated. Especially in a competitive environment (interns trying to outdo one another) and your temporary status.
Best of luck.
Sorry to hear that you got fired over a joke, but I think you are reflecting well and are trying to correct the mistakes. Don't worry too much about it. Shit happen some times. Move on to bigger things. Best of luck.
I would recommend u not tell people u quit. either leave it on your resume or take it off, but if u decide to keep it then i would just discuss it an an interview like a normal internship that ended as opposed to some drama. If you feel awkward about that then dont put it on ur resume, but an intern who quit in the middle of a summer internship unless there was a good reason (ie a family tragedy) isnt someone i'd be looking to hire.
Talking to the victim will do nothing. They weren't adult enough to talk to you in person the first time. I'd say you're lucky for being let go from an obvious lame ass internship.
Imo, leave it off your resume. You didn't intern there that long and saying you quit is barely better than being fired. Find something else and just forget that place.
Next job find a place that doesn't hire babies. I've almost had a chair threw and me during work hours and just went along with things. Too many butt hurt babies nowadays.
First, it's great that you recognize you have some socialization problems, but it looks like you are not taking them seriously enough. Please understand this: most top guys in finance are not necessarily the smartest guys in finance. You have to be somewhat likeable, at least to those that count. If you are not liked by the people that count, you won't have a chance, no matter how brilliant you are. Don't forget this point. Ever. And stop the snide backstabby comments. Everybody has those thoughts. Only idiots actually voice them.
You very well could have been working for a unreasonably PC company, they exist and when employee there you have watch EVERYTHING that comes out of your mouth that isn't directly involved with your immediate job duties, in fact in this type of environment just don't anything unless asked about a work related topic if you're prone to putting your foot in your mouth.
Likelihood here is that this was the straw that broke HR's back. You truly have to be fucking all types of shit up when you come into the office everyday as an intern to get fired from a two month long program. The fact that you were frequently on HR's radar during your first month is a red-flag. As an intern, you should really only ever be in contact with HR twice during your summer program: first on day 1 where they get you to your desk and the last day to do exit interview / next steps stuff.
I'm sorry this happened, but if you want to continue to do this type of work in the future, you need to take hard look at what happened and how you're going to correct in future. One busted internship wont kill you, and two years into your first job it wont even mater.
Take-away is that work is for work, period. Not making buddies, cracking jokes, goofing around, trying to act cool and impress more senior or whatever. Even if your group is really laid back and colloquial, you're never going to get burned for exercising too much professional discretion and keeping your comments and opinions directed at the tasks your given.
I read your comment in Stringer Bell's voice. It felt right.
Oh come on just post the joke
Didn't expect this thread to get so much attention haha. I'm over it now guys, and honestly, it might be a good thing.
First off I'd kill the kid that snitched on me. Make sure he/she knows that they're done. In all seriousness sounds like you fired from a lame ass internship with little cause. I'm sure it sucks, but luckily for you this is pretty early in your working career and won't have any long term impact. Some people don't even have internships after their freshman summer and they turn out fine.
Its good you can say that you quit and if I were you I would try and get 5-10 min of your bosses time ( or whoever you were closest with) and honestly ask why you were fired. Seems pretty silly to get fired over a joke unless it was extremely racist or inappropriate, especially considering that you didn't even have a chance to explain yourself, but who knows.
I'd probably just keep the experience on your resume especially now that its end of July and you can just list that you worked for 2 months on your resume (assuming you started beginning of June). If anyone asks just say that the internship ran until August but you decided to leave early for xyz reason.
Oh and make sure to steal a bunch of stuff on the way out. That'll teach them a lesson.
I did an internship at a big F500 company. I killed it, worked longer hours than most, took on more work than expected. That said a majority of people did not like me or think I would ever fit in culture-wise, HR included. I offended lifers, HR, made the same types of jokes about useless presentations like you did, heck probably may have napped for 5mins during 45min video from the CEO for quarter.
That said, I never came close to getting canned you really really need to go above and beyond for that one, congrats. HR was not all supportive in even considering me to come back, that also said because I outperformed the other intern 20x over they could not offer to bring that kid back either. So really HR made a no-win solution for anyone and decided to just recruit elsewhere. Same thing happened to a friend I shared an office, he killed it, still is killing at another company to this day but HR convinced a top VP that long-term he was not for them.
So with others, get past it and learn from it. If you plan to work at a company like this again, make sure you learn from it and do not act defensive (oh but it was not racist blah blah), also less is more i.e. do not give details of the joke or situation just say someone was offended and that is all. If you really want to work for BB or trading, we really don't care and would laugh it off. This is all said Bondarb said it best just do not bring up why you were fired or quit, talk to the quality of your work and skills gained, especially if you plan to chase trading. Truly this is nothing to panic about, you are young and still getting used to an office environment move forward.
"The secretary saw her boss pant's zip open.
She tells him: "Sir your garage door is open."
Boss: "Did you see my Ferrari?"
Secretary: "I saw a small scooter with two punctured wheels."
I got fired from a temp position for adding an executive of the company that I met on LinkedIn. Go figure.
Depending on the quality of the joke, you should get promoted..
Whatever you do, don't say that you quit. I would absolutely hire somebody that made an off-color comment that offended someone rather over some dude who couldn't suck it up for a 3-month internship.
How do you get fired from an internship? Story doesn't add up.
I spent a year in the Midwest and I know where you're coming from. I am in an industry that allows for more direct interactions. During my time there, the people in the high financial industry definitely reflected what you're saying.
Hi,
I'm work in the EOO part of human resources and we deal with this type of issue all the time. Can someone PM exactly what he said? I'm curious because people have been let go for something offensive, but usually its like a history of blatant racist/sexist/homophobic/whatever remarks. Not like a one time thing unless it's something really bad.
For the sake of confidentiality, please do not accept any PMs regarding this.
I got massively chewed out in my 1st full-time gig as well. Similar to some of the posts above - because I didnt suck someone's dick over the title they held. Really scared the hell out of me, because it happened during my 1st week on the job at a big corporate event that they flew all the analysts & associates out to.
Was 99% sure I was going to get fired when I got back. Instead, the senior people in my group hated me for about 6 months. Got over it :x
For what its worth, over my 2 analyst years I found that I have less respect for that specific executive than anyone I've ever met in any professional environment. To me, they will always be the paragon of corporate waste/brainlessness/wallflowers.
What did you do?
If you don't get chewed out early in your career you're doing something wrong. I had some ops VP ride me ass and literally track the time I started to the minute. I quit that place within 5 months and never looked back.
Shit happens, learn from it and move on.
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