I know this isn't an lgbt topic, but I've been worried over something and needed some reassurance/outside opinions. Today was my last day at my internship. My colleagues took me out to lunch as a last day goodbye lunch type of thing. After lunch when we got back to the office, my supervisor gave me one last thing to do - some quick edits to a document I made. By the time I finished and was ready to leave, I went over to my colleagues to say bye and they told me my supervisor had just stepped out of the office. So I said bye to the people who were there and asked that they let my supervisor know I said bye. I then sent her a quick email letting her know that I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to say bye, and I thanked her for everything and all that. Then I left the office. I've been worried the rest of the day that I should not have left without personally saying bye to her. But what was I supposed to do? Sit around and wait until she got back to the office? Did I do the wrong thing? :icon_redf
Don't worry! If it had been an issue to say a final, FINAL goodbye, your supervisor should have come to YOU to say goodbye before leaving - it would only have taken a second. You left your good wishes AND sent an email - you have done the job right and you have no need to feel bad. Did you try cake? I spent most of yesterday imagining what cake I would be MOST grateful for and how firmly I'd have shaken your hand and wished you a fond farewell! If they took you out to lunch, it sounds like you made a big impression. YAY :eusa_danc:smilewave
Hey thanks for answering my question yet again! I'm quite a nervous wreck and am always second-guessing myself Actually, this isn't a final farewell at all! I was an unpaid intern this summer, but they loved my work and asked me to stay on as a paid freelance writer for them. They even let me keep my work email address and my supervisor asked the IT guy to keep me on their company server so I could access their documents for future projects. So this isn't a final goodbye...just a goodbye for the summer internship until the next time I might see them or work in the office again. I didn't end up bringing anything in. They gave me a card and a very generous gift card though. After work, I went to buy cards and gift cards to give back to them, but now I'm thinking it may not be so appropriate for the intern to gift their supervisor/colleagues with gift cards. I think I'll just leave things off the way they ended today...the goodbyes didn't go so perfectly, as my supervisor and one other colleague were out of the office when I left, but I'll be in touch with them still.
Don't worry, you did the right thing and the fact that your colleagues took you out for lunch suggests that they like you and thought you were a good intern. As for your boss, don't worry about it. My boss on my last day of work made me work overtime, then left without a word. I have yet to send him a thank you email (though i did say goodbye and thank you to him in person the day before) as i'm unsure what emotion i should use to when facing him after the internship, as he's not exactly a good boss to work with
Yeah, it's just awkward being an intern because you have to be so cautious to follow the correct office politics but sometimes it's unsure what exactly we should be doing. I just felt weird not saying bye in person, but I didn't know if I should've waited until my supervisor and one other colleague came back to the office. I don't want them to think poorly of me because I left, but then again, it'd be weird if I just sat around to wait for them.
Ikr? Sometimes it's inevitable that the office poliics and the inter-personal relationship between employees get tangled up in their real work, and that's when things get awkward for us interns....
It's always awkward being an intern. You don't really belong. You're just a temporary worker. Everyone else is so much older, and they all have known each other for so long already. At my office, the girls I work with are like a group of close friends. I feel even more out of place when I have to sit with them. It's like high school...you wouldn't just randomly butt in and join someone else's group of friends out of nowhere. The lunch I had with them on the last day was great, so I just hope I didn't ruin the good impression with my lack of a personal goodbye.
