I cry at the thought of going to work the next day...

[pinkinthecity]

OP, if you are do not feel you are qualified enough to do the reports, do not do them. These reports sound really important since they are meant for your boss to complete (and the numbers have to do with potential lay-offs in your company if I am reading your original post correctly), and if you should make a mistake, it would probably be on you. Plus, you are new to the company with only ten weeks of tenure, so I would leave these reports alone and go about with your regular job duties. If headquarters keeps pressuring you, give them your boss's number or your boss's secretary's phone number and e-mail address and have them deal with it. In my opinion, it is completely unfair for your company to put this much pressure on you to do something that you are not trained to do. It would be one thing if your boss is guiding you in some way on how to do these reports, but they are just having you go about this in the dark.

Good luck!

[boxermom]

What Roosaid. What an irresponsible thing for your boss to do. An internship requires a mentor of some kind for the intern. You don't just throw them into the deep end of the pool and expect things to turn out ok.

Good luck and I can relate to the feelings you are having about going to work. Come back and vent as much as you want.

[Sternchen]

Good morning guys!

Thank you for your lovely and heartfelt responses. It makes me feel better to know that my feelings are justified and that I'm not being petty. I thought long and hard about calling in sick today and I just couldn't do it. I would have felt bad. I want to see how it is today and try to handle this situation the best I can.

Irresponsible? Absolutely. Everyone is frustrated that he's not here and didn't complete his tasks. It's like a chain reaction. You don't give me your numbers, I can't do my presenatation... things like that.

I was able to complete some of the reports successfuly. I was proud of myself for doing that. I looked into his folder that's on the server and looked at the reports from the past months and years to see if I could find a formula, trend, or a hint somewhere. I will talk to the lady that hired me today (she is in charge of interns) and let her know what is going on and how I feel. Even if it doesn't change my situation in the short-time I have left (end of January) it might change the situation for the next intern.

I sometimes feel that he just wanted to get the heck out of town. He came last Monday because he was still home and someone called him letting him know that it was total chaos in the office. He was there for 3 hours and then left. No directions on what to do during the time he was gone... just a "See ya!"

@ those who suggested me cc:ing the emails I send to him. I will do that. It didn't occur to me that that would also be a good way to document what I was doing

*sigh* I'll go into work today with a positive attitude and try to make the best of it

I can't quit...even if I wanted to. This internship counts toward my degree (6 semesters of lectures + 1 internship)

[Pursegrrl]

^^ great update, Sternchen!! Glad you're not calling in sick. And WAY TO GO completing some of the reports - you are resourceful alright! That was way above and beyond and will be a great story to tell future employers on how you handled a pressure cooker situation.

Yes, be sure to cc your boss (and yourself) on all your emails and keep them in a separate folder. Doesn't matter if he has 4892304820398 to wade through when he's back from holiday; that's not your problem and meanwhile you've covered your butt. Major no-no on his part with the "dump and run" technique. Very unprofessional - even moreso at the one notch below the CEO level.

Please keep us posted - we're here to support you through this bumpy patch!

XXXOO PG

[xlana]

Sorry OP about the crappy job. I totally know how it feels. I just started a new job and I hate it. And just like you, my supervisor left for vacation on the fourth day of me starting the new job. Nobody told me how to do things, some of the other supervisors don't like to help even when they know I'm new, and they basically threw a bunch of crap at me and expected me to learn it during the first week I worked. And the worst is I had to clean up the mess of this other employee who totally butchered the job. I pretty much had to figure out everything on my own.

I'm glad everything worked out for you though! But my best advice is just to try your best, feel out people in the company who are willing to help, show others that you are making an effort to do your job the right way, and just watch other employees and see if you can learn from them. Good luck!

[TXGirlie]

Hang in there sternchen! And when you get some time to relax, rent the dvd OFFICE SPACE...it's a classic and you might relate to it!

[Sternchen]

Thank you guys

TX, I will have to rent that! I've never seen it

[fatefullotus]

Ack! Sorry Sternchen, for the mess you're in.

This has the potential to get really, really ugly. How absolutely unprofessional of your boss to leave the office in such a state. Your boss should know much, much better -- HR and all! The way I see it, you need to walk a fine line between (1) making sure you don't take the blame for this mess that cascaded from your boss' irresponsible behavior and (2) making sure you don't step on your boss' toes.

It's great that you were able to do parts of the report. From now til the time your boss comes back, everything that you send out should be cc'ed to your boss. As for late reports, I'd send out an apology email to the recipients and ask them for a little patience while you work on an emergency project for <your boss' name>. When you send in any work that should have been your boss' responsibility, note that by saying something like "As you know, <boss' name> is out of the office. I am, as yet, unfamiliar with this report but am confident I successfully completed it, albeit with a little delay due to my unfamiliarity with the process and layout." CC you boss. This way, it's clear you are unfamiliar with the report but highlights your efforts and take-charge attitude. When all goes well, you'll look great and your boss will look good for having hired you.

When your boss gets back, immediately thank him for giving you the opportunity to prove you can take on such important tasks. Tell him it wasn't easy and it got a little hectic, but you think you were able to handle it. However, you'd like some time to sit down with him and go through how to do those reports (and anything else he left undone that you had to take care of) so that you can be more comfortable doing them. Thank him again for trusting your abilities enough to leave you with the tasks that he did. Spinning it like this gives him leeway with his boss, gives you credit for your work, makes his irresponsibility look more like his trust in your abilities and most importantly, makes him out to be a generous boss. That'll go a long way.

Good luck! Let us know how everything pans out.

[ILuvShopping]

sternchen - sounds like you came back with a boat load of confidence, just hang in there!!! I'm glad there's someone you can at least go to about the situation.