8 Foolproof Tips For When Internship Disaster Strikes

Internships are a big part of college and something you may have to go through before getting a job or career right out of college. They can offer you great experience and get your foot in the door at a company you are interested in working for.

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However, with internships kind of being your first real or professional job, you are bound to make many mistakes, so here are eight common internship disasters and how to get through them.

1. You sent a personal email to the whole office.

It’s not uncommon for employees or interns to send each other personal emails (normally about another employee) throughout the workday; however, what if you accidentally sent an email to the whole company that was somewhat inappropriate?

This situation is not unheard of, but it can cause a bit of trouble depending on what the mass email was about. If this ever happens to you while in an internship, don’t freak out completely. Send a professional apology email saying that your email was not intended for everyone and you sincerely apologize.

Fess up to your mistakes, and don’t lie about it if your boss does end up making a big deal of it. Hopefully most people will be understanding, but you have to own your mistakes, even if it costs you your internship position.

2. You lost a project or important document.

Having your computer crash or accidentally forgetting to save a document and losing most or practically all of your hard work can be a huge devastation.

Sometimes these situations can even be emotional, but try to keep calm. If you are not too savvy with fixing problems like this, ask a fellow intern or employee that knows what they are doing or you can try to look it up online before doing anything that may make the problem worse. If the company you are interning for has technical assistance or an IT department, try calling them for a solution to get your work back.

If it is definite that you did in fact lose your work, you just have to come to terms with it. If the assignment was due to your boss in a short amount of time, explain to him or her what happened and assure them you will get it done as soon as possible.

3. Your boss embarrassed you in front of everyone.

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If you did something wrong, or your boss is just in a bad mood and he or she yells at you in front of the whole office or a room of people, it can be super embarrassing.

Don’t try to argue with your boss because that honestly will not get you anywhere. If you strongly feel as if your boss was out of line doing that in front of everyone, talk to him in private and tell them that it may have hurt your feelings or was an inappropriate time, of course in the least offensive way possible.

Afterwards, just try to shake it off (as T-Swift has taught us).

4. You accidentally fell asleep.

Many internships are boring for a lack of work and if you are doing an internship while taking classes, the hours can be harsh. If you do find yourself extremely tired and you accidentally fall asleep while on the job and a superior catches you, do not blame it on you being bored.

Simply apologize and explain why you haven’t gotten a good night’s sleep in a while. If being tired at work becomes a habit, try drinking caffeine before and while working. If matters are worse, you may want to ask your boss if your hours can be cut down some.

5. You woke up an hour late because you set your alarm for 7 p.m.

I think we have all set our alarms for the morning and for some reason it didn’t go off, whether it was from setting it for p.m. instead of a.m. or your phone dying. This can really screw up your whole day if you unintentionally sleep in, but it does happen.

As soon as you wake up and realize you are going to be/already are late, call your boss right away; the quicker they know, the less disappointed they will be. Giving employers a heads-up will let them see your effort, rather than you just showing up hours late.

You should also try to get ready as fast as possible, like putting your hair up to save time.

6. You went on a coffee/food run and forgot someone’s order.

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Sometimes interns are given the task of getting coffee or lunch for your boss or even a whole group of people. What if you have a big order and get to the restaurant and can’t remember a person or two’s orders?

If you end up in this sticky situation, call the office and ask them what the order was again, while apologizing for the inconvenience if they are busy. For the future, you should always write every order down, and ask other questions — for example, if they want everything on their sandwich or need any condiments.

This may sound tedious, but showing them how thorough you are can make them notice your hard work at every task given, or at least remember your name.

7. Your “not so professional” ringtone went off.

It is always important to keep your cell phone on silent while at work; however, sometimes you can forget to switch it to silent when rushing in the mornings. If your ringtone of J-Z’s new song blasts out while sitting in a meeting, it can be so embarrassing and may upset some of the employees or your boss.

If this does happen to you just apologize and make sure your phone is always on silent before entering the office. You also may want to consider changing your ringtone to a default, just to save some embarrassment if you slip up again.

8. You realize you did something incorrectly.

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Realizing you did a project wrong or misspelled a word on a document you already gave to your boss can result in a huge freak-out moment for most interns. If you have the time, try to go and fix it and give your boss another correct copy, telling them that you realized a minor mistake.

However, if you know they are reviewing it right away, go and tell them that you realized what you did wrong and offer to give him or her a correct copy as soon as possible. Fessing up to your mistakes before they catch them looks a whole lot better than them finding them and possibly thinking you are not cut out for an actual position at the company in the future.