Late for work on my first day for summer job... Forum

[swc65]

Don't leave until they tell you to?? LoL then you will never leave.

Seriously, it is not a big deal. Most people will laugh it off as long as it does not become a habit.

People love horror stories like this so just spin it in a humorous way when ou are out to lunch and laugh it off. being able to recover easily and quickly shows emotional maturity whereas fretting about 14 minutes for hours show the opposite.

[geoduck]

You know when they talk about those being no-offers, they reference those who just don't fit in and are socially awkward? Don't be that guy. You need to relax and quit worrying so much. Take a deep breath and work your ass off to get back in good favor. Make sure you show up 30 minutes early from this point on and do not leave until they tell you to. By the end of the summer, noone will remember that you were late on the first day.

It will be OKAY! Being 14 minutes late one day isn't going to screw your chances at a permanent offer, but obsessing over the most trivial crap will.

You really think "that guy" can help being "that guy"?

To be fair, staying until you are told to leave during an internship or summer entry-level position is TCR. It's not in law, but my wife and I both got full-time positions in our respective fields (architecture and television) as soon as our initial internships ended when others didn't and we used that approach. You work your ass off at first, but it makes a hell of an impression. It's hard to overcome a bad first impression, so OP would be well served to take that strategy.

I don't think you understood my comment.

Probablemente no. Rereading it, I'm thinking you mean that the guy who freaks out about everything to the detriment of his punctuality and efficacy isn't going to change into an awesome worker who shows up early and stays late just cause he's told to on the interwebz.

[geoduck]

Don't leave until they tell you to?? LoL then you will never leave.

Seriously, it is not a big deal. Most people will laugh it off as long as it does not become a habit.

People love horror stories like this so just spin it in a humorous way when ou are out to lunch and laugh it off. being able to recover easily and quickly shows emotional maturity whereas fretting about 14 minutes for hours show the opposite.

Obviously if everyone else goes home for the night, then you can take that as a cue to get out of there. Otherwise, yeah, put in the crazy hours. After a few weeks you'll have earned the respect you need and won't need to do it every day.

[Patriot1208]

Don't leave until they tell you to?? LoL then you will never leave.

This, people aren't going to tell you to leave on a regular basis or monitor you like that. Someone might tell you to go home early some day, but if you have work to do, they will trust you to do that work and not monitor you.

[geoduck]

Don't leave until they tell you to?? LoL then you will never leave.

This, people aren't going to tell you to leave on a regular basis or monitor you like that. Someone might tell you to go home early some day, but if you have work to do, they will trust you to do that work and not monitor you.

If you want a good recommendation, then put in your prescribed hour set every day. If you're looking to turn it into a job, put in near to or as many hours as your boss does. It's pretty logical, really.

[Patriot1208]

Don't leave until they tell you to?? LoL then you will never leave.

This, people aren't going to tell you to leave on a regular basis or monitor you like that. Someone might tell you to go home early some day, but if you have work to do, they will trust you to do that work and not monitor you.

If you want a good recommendation, then put in your prescribed hour set every day. If you're looking to turn it into a job, put in near to or as many hours as your boss does. It's pretty logical, really.

I'm not sure what this has to do with my comment. People aren't going to tell you to leave on any regular basis and/or monitor your hours that closely. Partners often work 70-80 hr weeks at law firms. Generally businesses don't want the interns working that many hours.

[paratactical]

Don't leave until they tell you to?? LoL then you will never leave.

This, people aren't going to tell you to leave on a regular basis or monitor you like that. Someone might tell you to go home early some day, but if you have work to do, they will trust you to do that work and not monitor you.

I don't know if it's similar for summers, but I know that a lot of the lower level associates at my firm do the same thing at the end of the night that, I, as a paralegal do: you pop in the office of the senior people on whatever cases are busy and say "Hey, just wanted to check in and make sure there wasn't anything else you needed before I headed out for the night". You do not do this with your jacket/purse/etc all ready to go; you do it when the day is winding down to give everybody time to email you if they think of anything.

[geoduck]

Don't leave until they tell you to?? LoL then you will never leave.

This, people aren't going to tell you to leave on a regular basis or monitor you like that. Someone might tell you to go home early some day, but if you have work to do, they will trust you to do that work and not monitor you.

If you want a good recommendation, then put in your prescribed hour set every day. If you're looking to turn it into a job, put in near to or as many hours as your boss does. It's pretty logical, really.

I'm not sure what this has to do with my comment. People aren't going to tell you to leave on any regular basis and/or monitor your hours that closely. Partners often work 70-80 hr weeks at law firms. Generally businesses don't want the interns working that many hours.

And if they don't, then they'll inform the intern of such. Personally, I'd rather have the boss tell me that I should cut back on how much time I'm spending in the office than have to tell me to work more or even to just notice that I seem to rush out the door as soon as the clock hits 5. Even if you put in a few ridiculous days, it'll make an impression and they will see that you are dedicated. Bonus points if some bit of late afternoon work comes by to be done and you are the only intern left because everyone else has gone home.

Fake edit: Yeah, what Para said is a pretty solid suggestion too. I've used that often. Emphasis on not having your coat and bag. You should look like you are still ready to work... and still be ready to work in case they do throw something at you.

[Patriot1208]

This, people aren't going to tell you to leave on a regular basis or monitor you like that. Someone might tell you to go home early some day, but if you have work to do, they will trust you to do that work and not monitor you.

If you want a good recommendation, then put in your prescribed hour set every day. If you're looking to turn it into a job, put in near to or as many hours as your boss does. It's pretty logical, really.

I'm not sure what this has to do with my comment. People aren't going to tell you to leave on any regular basis and/or monitor your hours that closely. Partners often work 70-80 hr weeks at law firms. Generally businesses don't want the interns working that many hours.

And if they don't, then they'll inform the intern of such. Personally, I'd rather have the boss tell me that I should cut back on how much time I'm spending in the office than have to tell me to work more or even to just notice that I seem to rush out the door as soon as the clock hits 5. Even if you put in a few ridiculous days, it'll make an impression and they will see that you are dedicated. Bonus points if some bit of late afternoon work comes by to be done and you are the only intern left because everyone else has gone home.

Fake edit: Yeah, what Para said is a pretty solid suggestion too. I've used that often. Emphasis on not having your coat and bag. You should look like you are still ready to work... and still be ready to work in case they do throw something at you.

That's fine. I only took issue with your "stay every night till someone tells you to leave". Because they aren't going to babysit you like that. And staying every night till exactly when your boss leaves when you don't have work to do is going to alienate yourself from co-workers.

[geoduck]

If you want a good recommendation, then put in your prescribed hour set every day. If you're looking to turn it into a job, put in near to or as many hours as your boss does. It's pretty logical, really.

I'm not sure what this has to do with my comment. People aren't going to tell you to leave on any regular basis and/or monitor your hours that closely. Partners often work 70-80 hr weeks at law firms. Generally businesses don't want the interns working that many hours.

And if they don't, then they'll inform the intern of such. Personally, I'd rather have the boss tell me that I should cut back on how much time I'm spending in the office than have to tell me to work more or even to just notice that I seem to rush out the door as soon as the clock hits 5. Even if you put in a few ridiculous days, it'll make an impression and they will see that you are dedicated. Bonus points if some bit of late afternoon work comes by to be done and you are the only intern left because everyone else has gone home.

Fake edit: Yeah, what Para said is a pretty solid suggestion too. I've used that often. Emphasis on not having your coat and bag. You should look like you are still ready to work... and still be ready to work in case they do throw something at you.

That's fine. I only took issue with your "stay every night till someone tells you to leave". Because they aren't going to babysit you like that. And staying every night till exactly when your boss leaves when you don't have work to do is going to alienate yourself from co-workers.

I'll admit to a touch of hyperbole due to OP's retarded wardrobe malfunction, but the core concept is to put in heavy hours from the start to make a lasting impression. You don't want to make enemies of your fellow interns, but it's hard to not alienate them somewhat if you manage to pull a full-time job out of the internship and they don't.

[rocon7383]

Don't leave until they tell you to?? LoL then you will never leave.

This, people aren't going to tell you to leave on a regular basis or monitor you like that. Someone might tell you to go home early some day, but if you have work to do, they will trust you to do that work and not monitor you.

If you want a good recommendation, then put in your prescribed hour set every day. If you're looking to turn it into a job, put in near to or as many hours as your boss does. It's pretty logical, really.

I'm not sure what this has to do with my comment. People aren't going to tell you to leave on any regular basis and/or monitor your hours that closely. Partners often work 70-80 hr weeks at law firms. Generally businesses don't want the interns working that many hours.

I doubt the validity of this. Or at least that it is a regular occurrence on a large scale.

[shepdawg]

You should only freak out if there were people actually waiting for you. In my office, no one comes in on time. However, it's a really chill office. Everyone wears jeans and sneakers, and we all work from 10ish to 4ish. However, on court days, lateness looks very bad, because there's actually people waiting on you.

Don't leave until they tell you to?? LoL then you will never leave.

My boss tells me something like "you worked hard today, please go home and be with your family" every day. This occurs at about 2-3pm.

[fatdouche]

You are fine. Stop fretting.

[2LLLL]

Definitely keep freaking out and let it affect your job performance going forward.

[thesealocust]

Don't leave until they tell you to?? LoL then you will never leave.

Seriously, it is not a big deal. Most people will laugh it off as long as it does not become a habit.

People love horror stories like this so just spin it in a humorous way when ou are out to lunch and laugh it off. being able to recover easily and quickly shows emotional maturity whereas fretting about 14 minutes for hours show the opposite.

Obviously if everyone else goes home for the night, then you can take that as a cue to get out of there. Otherwise, yeah, put in the crazy hours. After a few weeks you'll have earned the respect you need and won't need to do it every day.

For summer legal jobs, this advice might be quite off the mark. A lot of jobs go out of their way to not work their summers to death, so you'd look really weird trying to stay late all the time. Even more jobs don't give summers terribly meaningful assignments, so grinding away at them for hours on end will just make you look inefficient.

It won't be the case at all summer jobs, but you can't assume an opportunity to curry favor through extraordinary investment of hours. It often just wastes time to come up with projects for temporary and inexperienced summer work, so the more of it you try to do the less time they can spend doing what actually needs to happen.

Just be normal. Work hard, don't be late or leave early any more, and put in extra time if you think it will really help somebody who is in a bind. But don't assume you can WIN at SUMMER JOBBING by working 12 hour days.

[Anonymous User]

If it helps to hear, I was also a few minutes late to my first day of my (granted, probably lower pressure 1L) summer job. It was embarrassing but I think quickly forgotten.

It sounds like you're probably working in NYC – if you are, and you're new to working there, rest assured that people tend to understand when the subways are fucked up. I would think in general, so long as you're not missing a court appearance or a client meeting or something else extremely time sensitive, nobody would really care that much, though it is an unfortunate first impression.

[rayiner]

Yeah, dude. First day, I'm planning to be extra early as to make sure this doesn't happen. Just do good work, be polite and friendly, etc. They will forget about it soon enough.

Yeah, that's a good idea! You should definitely try your suit on the day before you go to work. I got up at 6am this morning to get ready, but realized that the suit I was preparing to wear didn't look right on me. I was nervous, and spent another 40-ish minutes trying on other ones in my closet. That was why I was late:(

This shows absolutely terrible judgement.

[rayiner]

I was 14 minutes late

That doesn't seem very late for a corporate environment job.

It shouldn't have happened your first day, but it shouldn't be the be all end all.

At a law firm, nobody cares if you come in 10-15 minutes late, except in a few cases. First, if someone comes by your desk to ask for something. Second, when there is something important like a meeting.

That said, everyone will view being late on your first day as one of those special cases. They'll wonder whether they can count on you to be on time to a meeting with a client. You will definitely have to go out of your way to make up for this.

[rapstar]

Yeah, dude. First day, I'm planning to be extra early as to make sure this doesn't happen. Just do good work, be polite and friendly, etc. They will forget about it soon enough.

Yeah, that's a good idea! You should definitely try your suit on the day before you go to work. I got up at 6am this morning to get ready, but realized that the suit I was preparing to wear didn't look right on me. I was nervous, and spent another 40-ish minutes trying on other ones in my closet. That was why I was late:(

This shows absolutely terrible judgement.

LOLZ

[rayiner]

Don't leave until they tell you to?? LoL then you will never leave.

Seriously, it is not a big deal. Most people will laugh it off as long as it does not become a habit.

People love horror stories like this so just spin it in a humorous way when ou are out to lunch and laugh it off. being able to recover easily and quickly shows emotional maturity whereas fretting about 14 minutes for hours show the opposite.

Obviously if everyone else goes home for the night, then you can take that as a cue to get out of there. Otherwise, yeah, put in the crazy hours. After a few weeks you'll have earned the respect you need and won't need to do it every day.

For summer legal jobs, this advice might be quite off the mark. A lot of jobs go out of their way to not work their summers to death, so you'd look really weird trying to stay late all the time. Even more jobs don't give summers terribly meaningful assignments, so grinding away at them for hours on end will just make you look inefficient.

It won't be the case at all summer jobs, but you can't assume an opportunity to curry favor through extraordinary investment of hours. It often just wastes time to come up with projects for temporary and inexperienced summer work, so the more of it you try to do the less time they can spend doing what actually needs to happen.

Just be normal. Work hard, don't be late or leave early any more, and put in extra time if you think it will really help somebody who is in a bind. But don't assume you can WIN at SUMMER JOBBING by working 12 hour days.

This. Especially at a big firm, nobody knows when you go home. Nobody of any import will see you working late. Better strategy is to leave with the pack, but come through in a crunch. I won brownie points last week by checking my blackbery when I woke up and turning some quick edits on a document around before I left for work. I knew the associate was trying to get the docs out that day and she really appreciated it. That is something she might note in my evaluation, while she'll have no idea when I leave work every day.

Also, I like what our firm did on our first day. Make the first 15 minutes a mingle/greet breakfast for the SAs, so people coming in a few minutes late weren't embarrassed.

[Anonymous User]

Don't grovel over it.

show up on-time or early every other day and you will show them that you aren't habitually late

act 100% back to normal like it never happened from here on out

it is what it is, the world is still turning, chill out

their ultimate decision to extend you an offer or not won't be hinged on you showing up late once