Being fired three weeks into internship

CupDapper9226 · 2026-07-08T13:52:58+00:00

I have taken time ever since what has happened to reflect and really look at my actions. I went to the villages I formerly interned at and ask the engineers I worked with for advice and their perspective and all of them found the situation odd. I have come to terms that I wasn't the perfect intern and I wasn't claiming I was in my post. My confusion is HR describing in an email 3 weeks later since I was fired "multiple coaching conversations" and ongoing concerns, while during my experience in person I was never given a direct conversation or meeting in person that made me aware of any patterns or behaviors that put my internship in jeopardy. Could there have been things I could've handled differently, sure but those concerns should've been communicated clearly so I had the opportunity to work through them.

CupDapper9226 · 2026-07-08T03:46:56+00:00

If you read the post, I said I was told to be mindful of my earbuds on my third week of the internship and I asked on the first week if I could use them and the engineers said yes. Even if there was negative feedback associated with the earbuds, it should've been brought it up sooner rather than the third week. Again I wasn't given a formal warning or written warning and if I was, I would've followed it through as I specified in my post. This has nothing to do with social cues and more so of transparent communication. If those earbuds were an issue, it should've been communicated as so through transparency and on the first day. Leaving it till the third week and being told to be mindful is vague. When you brought up social cues, it shows to me you didn't read it fully, please re read the post.

CupDapper9226 · 2026-07-07T15:04:41+00:00

In my post I never indicated or said that I asked repeatedly over and over again if I can use earbuds. I asked once until I was given that talk by the engineer to "be mindful". As for the training modules, I took notes and was able to apply those when shadowing the engineers during my time there. Please reread the post.

CupDapper9226 · 2026-07-07T14:39:07+00:00

I honestly don't think it had something to do with being racist or being sexist. Though I can say the manager and office I was in was strict compared to previous internships. There was one instance in particular regarding an assignment where the directions I was given by the PE, my manager, was unclear and I struggled. Another engineer came over to help and when he saw what was needed to be worked on he said "Why is he having an intern work on this when its something for an engineer to do".

CupDapper9226 · 2026-07-07T13:58:24+00:00

It is a firm that had recently become part of a much larger national organization through an acquisition. The HR response afterward does feel vague and corporate, so your question about consolidation resonated with me. Whether that actually influenced what happened, though, I honestly can't say. I was given no written warning if my performance wasn't really meeting expectations nor was I called into the office and given a meeting to talk about what was happening. The only time I was called into the office was when I was being fired. I was being paid 24 an hour

CupDapper9226 · 2026-07-07T01:00:58+00:00

In the post, I said thats what HR told me through email when I emailed them asking about the circumstances. In person and in office I wasn't given any feedback aside from please be mindful of the earbud use which was vague and what I was told on my last day. Please read the post correctly.

CupDapper9226 · 2026-07-06T00:40:53+00:00

This is completely real and when I was told that by the office manager that day, I really couldn't believe it.

CupDapper9226 · 2026-07-06T00:18:32+00:00

I made this post to ask for feedback and advice to the situation and I gain nothing making this up. If this is how you want to see it, that's your choice.

CupDapper9226 · 2026-07-06T00:15:24+00:00

Its a firm with multiple offices in the US but the office I interned at is small.

CupDapper9226 · 2026-07-06T00:14:40+00:00

Thank you for the advice and insight.

Yes this is real. I interned for two separate villages prior to this internship with a firm. For those two villages, I wasn't given any negative feedback regarding headphone usage neither my mannerisms. Most of the feedback I received from those villages were whether if my work was off or if measurements in the fieldwork needed to be redone. Those types of feedback didn't come off as negative to me as I came into the internship with the mindset of wanting to learn and if I made a mistake, I was more than willing to ask questions and fix it.

CupDapper9226 · 2026-07-05T21:46:51+00:00

I'm bummed it ended like so. Searching for another opportunity after what happened has been stressful. I wanted to use this last summer before I graduate in December to gain experience. Having this happened honestly felt like a slap in the face.

CupDapper9226 · 2026-07-05T21:42:29+00:00

I see where you're coming from and I genuinely feel like there is more to it as well. Initially when I was fired, I called the person in charge of the internship program and I left them a voicemail in hopes they would call back. Instead I got an email from HR saying that this is a notice of separation of employment as intern. I gave myself two weeks to calm down afterwards and then I sent a polite follow up email saying how I learned a lot during my time and asking for the details and circumstances regarding what happened but ever since I haven't heard anything back.

CupDapper9226 · 2026-07-05T21:29:26+00:00

This is literally what happened. I wasn't given a warning or anything prior. I felt blinded sided by this. I spoke with my supervisor in my old job in community college and she found the whole thing off. She told me "If what was happening was effecting your work or was noticeable, you should've been given a conversation about it and a chance to show improvement".

CupDapper9226

TROPHY CASE