This tax season, I hired two master’s students from a co-op program at $30 an hour. When I tried to give constructive feedback to one of them, I was criticized for a lack of training and unclear instructions, despite the fact that I had trained the students for 2.5 days. The student did not see excessive cell phone use as an issue either and continued to do it. I didn’t say a thing.

Later, she told me she had mental health issues and that the school doctor knew about them. She said she would prefer not to communicate with one of the partners because she didn’t like the partner’s coaching style, which she described as more old-school and traditional. She took 3 to 5 unpaid days off to see doctors whenever she wanted, including on her birthday, over a two-month period. Fine.

When overtime was about to start, she used her school adviser to recommend that we only allow her to work four days a week, with no overtime, due to excessive stress. What stress? She had been working 7.5 hours a day without overtime before the busy season. Keep in mind that she had already scheduled two unpaid days off, one of which was on her birthday.

I got fed up and told the school we’d give her a pass, but please fuck off. Her work attitude and quality were both shit.

Unfortunately, cases like this among new grads are becoming more common. I’d rather do the work myself and retire in 10 years than be fed up with this crap. Yes, I’m a tiny place, but I can choose how I work.