Am I in a toxic work environment or am I just overreacting？
Hey guys, this is my first post here so please bear with me. I am currently a 2nd year college student (we have 4 years) in Hong Kong and recently I joined a part-time, remote, unpaid internship at a VC as backup in case I don't get into a good bank this summer. But there are some things that made me have a bad feeling about this:
1) The job description clearly says to do 'WEEKLY reporting on the latest ESG policies and trends'. I also asked my department head and she confirmed that I have to hand in a report every Thursday before 11:00pm. However, when I handed in the report in the morning of this Thursday, the boss lost his shit and told me he expected a DAILY report. Showed him the job description and screenshots of conversation with the dept head and he said, from now on, he will change my job duties to DAILY.
2) He expects everyone to respond within 5 minutes upon receiving his texts, usually in the wee hours of the morning, even on weekends. If not, I get yelled and degraded at with profanities.
3) Gone down with Covid with complications so ended up in hospital. Told him about it and he said that I'd still have to hand my shit in and that he suspected I was lying.
4) I don't find what I'm doing now fruitful because nobody in the company knows what is going on and it is extremely repetitive.
I understand that I am just an intern and I am supposed to be bossed around and be enslaved to the company. But is this normal or is it too much?
Edit: Resigned
Since the position is unpaid and causing you so much mental anguish and isn’t prestigious at all, it’s probably best you just walk away.
I've got similar thoughts too. I am currently still looking for better opportunities, I've got 3 interviews next week and I will resign ASAP once I get another offer (they're all much better companies). The dilemma is just in my city, many financial institutions are cutting headcounts or not hiring this year due to the pandemic effect on local economy. Kinda scared of not having an internship this summer. So that's why I'm debating.
Are you more scared of doing nothing or working for free for a dude that makes you want to kill yourself? Do something to teach him not to fuck with the help and bounce.
I have never lived in HK and don't know the local culture, but I would argue this is not normal at all. Look for a new role in a different company, if you can.
Quit today
Lol it's unpaid, just tell them to pound sand and find something else. All my finance internships in college were unpaid and if any of them had acted remotely like this I would've just blocked their email/number and started cold calling/emailing to find something else. Nobody who acts like this towards an unpaid intern is going to have any real pull in the industry so I'd say you're safe. Department head sounds like an utter chode OP.
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