Dear Summer Law Associates And Clerks, Here Are 20 Sympathetic Intern Stories To Soothe Your Anxieties
That indescribable feeling of screwing up big time.
“Fate fell short this time / Your smile fades in the summer / Place your hand in mine / I’ll leave when I wanna” — Blink 182
As the summer associate season comes to a close, I’d like to share some intern stories that everyone may be able to relate to.
In past recruiting seasons, Above the Law has published some memorable law student interview stories as well as tips for how to survive OCI. And of course, we have a slew of subsequent summer associate stories in our archives.
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Whether it’s consulting, finance, medicine, media, or another apprenticeship experience, every summer cohort surely has memorable moments. This spring, an HBO intern inadvertently sent a test email to the HBO Max mailing list. In a prompt follow-up, HBO Max tweeted:
We mistakenly sent out an empty test email to a portion of our HBO Max mailing list this evening. We apologize for the inconvenience, and as the jokes pile in, yes, it was the intern. No, really. And we’re helping them through it.
As highlighted by UpWorthy:
The internet responded by showering support on the anonymous intern, with many people, including celebrities, sharing their own stories of messing up at work. Monica Lewinsky, whose internship at the White House turned into a nightmare, rallied around the intern, tweeting: “Dear intern: it gets better,” followed by a heart emoji, adding. “ps. don’t wear a beret for a while, k?” she concluded, referencing the image of her wearing a beret and standing alongside then President Bill Clinton. It was one of the defining images of the scandal.
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Without further ado, here are a few more sympathetic stories many of us can relate to:
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#DearIntern when I was @thisisheart, David Beckham met F1 legend Nicki Lauda
I didn’t know who Nicki Lauda was as I’m not an F1 fan… so I wrote “David Beckham meets elderly fan” & accidentally went viral LOL😬😬😬💀💀💀 pic.twitter.com/u0LSZEMmgG
— Jack Steadman (@notjacksteadman) May 25, 2023
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#DearIntern I received an interview request at an amazing org. The hiring manager’s name was Amy, and when I went to speedily type the response to confirm the time and date, her name auto corrected to America. I panicked and pressed send instead of delete. I was 24. pic.twitter.com/rDP6FEYKl7
— Monica Burba (@Monica_Burba) May 26, 2023
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#dearintern Reminds me of my first main job & I was told to use the “back stairs” if the main exit was closed. For weeks I’d go to the roof & climb down the fire ladder, 2 stories in heels. Management saw me on a security camera and said I needed to use the ACTUAL back stairs.🤦♀️
— StefOU812 (@StefAtm) May 26, 2023
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#Dearintern a famous lawyer told my friend a story about when he was starting out. He said to the jury in a big murder case “turn your attention to the door. How can she be murdered if she is entering the court room right now!?” All of the jurors turned and (cont in comments)
— Melanie Namaste (@MelanieNamaste) May 25, 2023
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#DearIntern, in 2015, I tried emailing a @Dropbox link with server images for IBM’s new cloud data center launch. In all caps, I wrote: THESE ARE ONLY IMAGES APPROVED FOR USE.
BUT…I linked a folder of my rescue cat’s glamour shots from the animal shelter’s pro photographer. 😹 https://t.co/MC7vgAI07m
— Betsy Jane DeMik (@BetsyDeMik) May 25, 2023
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8yrs ago I changed the song you hear when placed on hold to “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” for my entire organization, and then I couldn’t figure out how I did it, nor how to undo it. It’s still the hold song. 😳
— Emily Hau (@1GreenwichGirl) May 25, 2023
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#dearintern I accidentally blocked the entire United States from placing orders for 7 hours at a company I worked for. It prevented thousands of sales. I was promoted a year later.
— Josh (@xJ8N0W311x) May 26, 2023
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#DearIntern, one year I typed an extra 0 for a giveaway, and instead of giving $400 in Groupon Bucks, we gave away $4,000 in Groupon Bucks — My mistake, their reward! 💚
— Groupon (@Groupon) May 25, 2023
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Dear Intern,
When I was 25 I commented on different versions of an Annual Report. My email went to the whole company, including the CEO and board members. Instead of my subject line reading, I love all versions, it read, I LOVE ALL VIRGINS. And yes. It was in caps. #dearintern
— Megan Rogers (@Megan_r_writer) June 16, 2023
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#dearintern I was once on a Teams call with a good friend and colleague. His Internet was acting up so I told him to call my desk phone. 30 seconds later it rang and I answered it with “alright knobhead”. It wasn’t him – it was one of our suppliers 😬
— Phil Lavin (@PhilLavin) May 26, 2023
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#DearIntern years ago I had a hobbies section on my resume that I used to apply to dozens of jobs. One of them was “Cocking” instead of “Cooking.” Lesson learned, don’t put hobbies on your resume, focus on your achievements, strengths, and thoroughly proofread before sending.
— Cynfully Sweet🖕🏻 (@CynfullySweetXO) August 4, 2023
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Dear intern, one of our interns (from an Ivy League school) set up a new conference room in the NYC office. They peeled the film off the new tv only to realize it wasn’t the film, it was the actual tv screen. #dearintern
— Julie Willis (@jawillis810) May 25, 2023
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#dearintern
When working as an intern for @bigmachinemedia I forgot to bcc 100s of music bloggers email addresses. People replied en masse. Then one of them blogged about it. I’m doing much better now 🙂https://t.co/q06MiqqJSl— Shannon Hauff (@ShannonHauff) May 24, 2023
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#dearintern I’m a recruiter and once after an interview, I accidentally emailed the candidate the notes I had made about them during the interview. Thankfully, he was really nice about it, but that could have gone very wrong.
— Amy Weidner ™ (@amyweid) May 25, 2023
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#dearintern
I was once asked to deliver a time-sensitive document to a meeting going on involving senior leaders. I tried to sneak in unnoticed and set it on the desk, but my clunky necklace got caught on a metal garbage can lid and it clanged for a good 15-20 seconds. I was 24.— Laura McCreary (@LolaRussell19) May 26, 2023
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In my first job, I saved the day in a crunch by completing payroll for 7 national offices in record time, even overnighting paper checks to those without direct deposit.
Then the Controller asked me for the checks so he could sign them…
You’ll be fine!#DearIntern #HBOIntern
— Jessica Richardson (@jnjrichardson) May 25, 2023
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#dearintern my mobile was unlocked and in my pocket and I somehow butt-added the entire senior leadership team, including the CEO, on to my friends football WhatsApp group where everyone was dissing each other badly. 🥲
— moiz 👑 (@ThatMoiz) May 29, 2023
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#dearintern, just a few months ago, I was in a meeting that was not going well. My boss and I were messaging back and forth, when I suddenly had to share my screen and it was frozen on the exact slack thread where we had just called someone ridiculous. I’m still employed.
— wanda albano (@wandaalbano) May 25, 2023
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One day I sent an email to my work bestie telling her how bad I needed a drink because the workplace was stressing me out. I hadn’t realized I sent it to the email chain of directors of my job. Needless to say it looked like everyone needed a drink that night because…
— Nataly (NLC) (@NLC972) May 25, 2023
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#dearintern As a young attorney, I forgot to remind a client about an important contract deadline that ended up costing them $50k AND that deal. I fessed up, owned my mistake and worked my ass off to try to make it up… that same client hired me as in-house counsel a year later.
— Kate (@mypetllama) May 24, 2023
To be sure, every summer class has an A.1. Sauce Moment. Of course, not all of them are retold in a Netflix hit series. Perhaps you have a notable story or two from your summer associate or clerk experience that you’d like to share with us. Please, feel free to send them our way. And who knows, maybe one day it’ll end up on television!
Renwei Chung is the DEI Columnist at Above the Law. He currently serves as a Board Advisor for The Diversity Movement (TDM), and hosts the Charge the Wave podcast — focused on entrepreneurs, executives, and icons who are assiduously building companies, cultures, and communities.
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