#trending: Interns recount 'horror stories' of being overworked and treated 'like dust'

SINGAPORE—Internships are a rite of passage for anyone wanting to enter the working world and beef up their resumes and portfolios, and they are even compulsory requirements for graduating from university. 

They are the first hard knock that one faces as one enters the working world. Some interns have enriching experiences, while others learn to steer clear of the company where they had worked. 

On Monday (May 27), a discussion on online forum Reddit sparked a discussion where people started sharing their accounts of "horror stories" from their days working as interns. The discussion on the r/Singapore thread titled True Singapore Intern Stories: Horror Stories from Interns Past and Present was spurred by an online article about terrible internship experiences. 

The thread has since received more than 300 upvotes and 80 comments as of Tuesday. 

The experiences that were shared run the gamut of unreasonable requests from managers to late salary payments to constant overtime work.

OVERWORKED, RUNNING ERRANDS FOR BOSS

One of the most common accounts rehashed by Reddit users was how interns often found themselves doing work outside their job scope or taking on too much workload. 

A Reddit user named “CheesecakeOG” wrote about working as a human resource intern at a firm in Singapore and was shocked to find out that interns handled everything in the human resource department's recruitment process for employees except the interviews. 

“There were even departments that were 100% staffed by interns, ie. every person was an intern except the department head, so the company was constantly pressuring human resource (aka me) to ensure a constant and steady stream of credit-bearing interns to take over when other interns leave.”

Credit-bearing interns refer to those who have taken up internships as a compulsory requirement for university and graduation. The user then suggested that the reason the company wanted credit-bearing interns was because they would be less likely to leave the company.

In addition to the workload, ​​the user also recalled having to constantly work overtime, amounting to 12-hour days, and that in the final month of internship, there was no salary payment until three to four months later. 

“They even ignored official emails sent by my (university) and only responded when I went to TADM (the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management) for intervention,” the Reddit user added.

Another Reddit user named “Historical_Pear_3594” said that while working as a media and marketing intern at a small multinational company here, the assignments consisted of tasks usually done by full-time employees. 

“I was given many tasks, in fact, more tasks than most interns to complete. I did things normally done by full-timers or even whole departments.”

As an intern, the Redditor was apparently not allowed any work-from-home days even when having a high fever of 39°C to 40°C. 

“No matter how sick I was, I never got any more work-from-home requests approved.”

Reddit user “DoubleElle124” related an account of being hired as an intern for the front office department but ended up being the boss' assistant, doing a list of what seemed like errands such as picking up Chinese New Year goods for the boss and also having reports done that were credited to the boss. 

“(I) wrote a full-length report only for the boss to use it in the market outlook... (I) prepared boss’ presentation slides, (bought) boss’ lunch (there was a lunch fund and had to ask for top-up when funds were low), picked up boss’ Chinese New Year goods and had to put it in boss’ car.”

To make things worse, the boss and the manager “hated each other” and used the intern to communicate with each other. 

RUTHLESS REMARKS, COLD TREATMENTS

Some other people talked about their experiences with managers who were quick to shout at interns or other staff members, or who reminded interns of "their place".

Reddit user “floralvanilla” said that at a research agency, the interns were invited once to the buffet lunch by one of the staff members. 

“While in the buffet line, (someone from human resources who was in the queue) said, ‘Who said you guys can join for the buffet? You guys are interns and don't have that entitlement’.” 

Frustrated by the comment, the interns left to find food elsewhere. 

Reddit user "hayleymello" said that years after an internship, what was said at the company was unforgettable: "One of the most ridiculous things I’ve experienced was one of the big bosses telling me and another intern in our faces that 'interns are like dust. I flick and you all are gone'."

Over at a law firm in Chinatown where Reddit user “thesilentobserver_” worked, the job was to schedule court hearings and important dates for one of the lawyers.

Creating and using a Google calendar to better facilitate this, the intern once highlighted the date for an important hearing in red and reminded the lawyer. 

The lawyer missed the hearing and blamed the intern, saying: “You never install Google Calendar on my phone, how I know?" Other retorts included: "Did you put an alarm on my phone? So this is your fault.”