I resigned from a summer job. Was this a bad decision? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Long story short I had a job with the Justice Dept before I begin a two year clerkship. Politically I'm very far left and with a little bit more time left before the job ended I tendered a resignation letter, packed my desk, and walked out of the office. The note was a bit long winded but in essence I told them I could not in good conscience work for an organization that had turned away from rule of law in order to support partisan corruption. I ended it by saying that, although my employment was ending soon, I was stepping out early as an example of the many people I suspect will also resign from the department before their work is done. All in all I left a couple minor tasks incomplete but all major work was done.


The high of standing up for my political values was a big high but I'm now realizing I may have majorly fucked up. My clerkship is in the bag but I'm worried that resigning from a summer job a week early because I had a moral objection to the actions of a person I'd never even met will be viewed very poorly by future prospective employers.

Did I fuck myself by being petty?

[Skool]

Eh, probably depends on where you want to work in the future.

Also, this story seems kind of fake.

[lolwat]

Also, this story seems kind of fake.

Totally agree.

[Dr. Nefario]

What's the timeline on this? Are you an incoming 3L? A recent grad? Quitting a summer job isn't that big a deal probably, but this does seem fake because if your problem was with the AG, you could've quit long before the summer started and that would've saved you this petty quit.

[Raiden]

pics or it didn't happen

[Wipfelder]

God, this is the most spineless, bourgie thing I've ever read. Did you borrow your dad's BMW to commute everyday?

Millennials are the worst, they've even ruined the revolution.

[cavalier1138]

Yeah, I'm really confused on the timeline. You realized that Jeff Sessions is evil incarnate, but not until you were one week away from finishing up the job in the first place?

[Wipfelder]

Yeah, I'm really confused on the timeline. You realized that Jeff Sessions is evil incarnate, but not until you were one week away from finishing up the job in the first place?

It's a good thing all his major projects were done before humbled the capitalist pig-dog hegemony. Just because there is a war for the soul of mankind doesn't excuse poor form.

[Anonymous User]

To clarify, I interned with the justice department every summer in law school. D.C. is where I belong and my goal is to end up back at the justice department under a different regime. I'm a current grad and have a federal clerkship starting soon. I figure I'll wait it out after that and start applying for full time work with the department when a dem wins in 2020. I took the internship this summer because I'd have rather have 3 summers there than 2.

At the time I figured I had my 3rd summer on my resume and that it'd be funny. This is one of those times where I should have known not to and still did.

[FSK]

You probably fucked yourself as a bizarre person. You were an intern or w/e. Maybe if you were a branch diretor does a noisy resignation make sense, but even then its important to appreciate the civil servant/political appointee distinction. You certcainly came off as bizarre, and you better hope that you supervisor/the cleaning lady/whoever found your note just shredded it and didn't put it in your personell file (which, by the way, is tracked across the entire fucking federal government).

[grixxlybear99]

Long story short I had a job with the Justice Dept before I begin a two year clerkship. Politically I'm very far left and with a little bit more time left before the job ended I tendered a resignation letter, packed my desk, and walked out of the office. The note was a bit long winded but in essence I told them I could not in good conscience work for an organization that had turned away from rule of law in order to support partisan corruption. I ended it by saying that, although my employment was ending soon, I was stepping out early as an example of the many people I suspect will also resign from the department before their work is done. All in all I left a couple minor tasks incomplete but all major work was done.


The high of standing up for my political values was a big high but I'm now realizing I may have majorly fucked up. My clerkship is in the bag but I'm worried that resigning from a summer job a week early because I had a moral objection to the actions of a person I'd never even met will be viewed very poorly by future prospective employers.

Did I fuck myself by being petty?

Lol. So dumb

[jhett]

To clarify, I interned with the justice department every summer in law school. D.C. is where I belong and my goal is to end up back at the justice department under a different regime. I'm a current grad and have a federal clerkship starting soon. I figure I'll wait it out after that and start applying for full time work with the department when a dem wins in 2020. I took the internship this summer because I'd have rather have 3 summers there than 2.

At the time I figured I had my 3rd summer on my resume and that it'd be funny. This is one of those times where I should have known not to and still did.

You quit this way knowing that your goal is to return to the feds? That was... shortsighted. You're not Sally Yates. Leaving an internship one week early via a dear john letter has no upside whatsoever. Better hope that everyone you worked with has moved on by the time you circle back.

As for jobs outside the fed, they probably won't know unless you try to use your fed coworkers as references (you shouldn't now, BTW).

[lavarman84]

God, this is the most spineless, bourgie thing I've ever read. Did you borrow your dad's BMW to commute everyday?

Millennials are the worst, they've even ruined the revolution.

Millennials > other generations

[TTTTescapee]

What will you do when Trump wins again?

[flashdril]

God, this is the most spineless, bourgie thing I've ever read. Did you borrow your dad's BMW to commute everyday?

Millennials are the worst, they've even ruined the revolution.

Millennials > other generations

Amen and no judgment on OP. Better late than never. (Of course the idea of an intern doing a noisy resignation is funny.)

That said, half of what the Justice Department does during Dem administrations is also morally objectionable, OP.

[RaceJudicata]

If this is true, you will definitely be looked at as a strange ranger. Water cooler talk and holiday parties reminiscing about the INTERN who wrote the wild, politically charged resignation letter.

[Kali the Annihilator]

Bullllllllshit

[LurkerTurnedMember]

So you summered there 3 summers. If I had your resume and I called that office to do a background check, which all employers do, who would answer? The guy you worked for the first 2 summers or the guy you basically just said fuck you to this summer? If the latter, that call won't be good.

Also even some leftist won't understand your decision if they find out. If you had an issue with how things are run or who ran the office, the mature and fight-back thing to do is actually stay there and use your position to influence decisionmaking, not just quit and go home and let what you think is intolerable roam free and unopposed. What are you going to do when the judge you clerk for has an incorrect reading of a case? Voice your opinion or pack up and go home?

And even if quitting was appropriate, you were just an intern who quit only one week before the job ended and after making sure you completed all your major work so there's no disruption. Be careful. You almost brought down the whole government!

[Wipfelder]

God, this is the most spineless, bourgie thing I've ever read. Did you borrow your dad's BMW to commute everyday?

Millennials are the worst, they've even ruined the revolution.

Millennials > other generations

Amen and no judgment on OP. Better late than never. (Of course the idea of an intern doing a noisy resignation is funny.)

That said, half of what the Justice Department does during Dem administrations is also morally objectionable, OP.

I was joking about the millennial thing, I am one. But this dude claiming to be "far left" and acting in such a meek, watered down way would make those boomer-Red Brigades cringe.

[Kali the Annihilator]

Its complete bullshit, so the discussion is moot.

[los blancos]

How did anyone read past the first paragraph without realizing it's blatant flame

[zhenders]

Why did you do this?

I don't understand.

[lavarman84]

God, this is the most spineless, bourgie thing I've ever read. Did you borrow your dad's BMW to commute everyday?

Millennials are the worst, they've even ruined the revolution.

Millennials > other generations

Amen and no judgment on OP. Better late than never. (Of course the idea of an intern doing a noisy resignation is funny.)

That said, half of what the Justice Department does during Dem administrations is also morally objectionable, OP.

I was joking about the millennial thing, I am one. But this dude claiming to be "far left" and acting in such a meek, watered down way would make those boomer-Red Brigades cringe.

OP left a note at least. Imagine how angry the Boomers would have been if he sent an email.(once they figured out how to turn on their computers and access the email)

[Milksteak]

So Trump was elected in November and he nominated Jeff Sessions the very same month. It was pretty damn clear what kind of justice department this administration would have. And you decided, for your own career, it would still be good for you to work there, because 3 summers would look better on your resume than 2 summers. And then you resigned one week before your internship ended, after doing shit you thought was morally wrong all summer. You resigned in such a way that there will be no gap in your resume and no employer outside of Justice will ever know.


You fucking suck. I don't have any insight into how the justice department hires, but whether you get rehired depends on whether everyone else there a prestige obsessed invertebrate that does't actually give a shit about what they say they care about. You are the worst.

[globetrotter659]

Good thing Spotted (the DC Intern blog) is now defunct. I'm sure your letter will be passed around the office.

As civil servants we are expected to provide professional service to the American public regardless of who is in the office. Junior attorneys (and especially interns) are so far removed from the political parts of our agencies. Furthermore, AG Sessions' big priorities are not being handled by line attorneys but more senior attorneys in the front offices. I'm also sure there are Line attorneys in your office who were just as liberal as you but who will continue to show up to work.

Is it career destroying? No. Will you ever get hired by DOJ again? Maybe not.