How do I handle a disrespectful intern?

[hockeyaddict]

I'm a tax accountant & this year I'm the supervisor for our 3 interns. It has been 2 weeks with them. The first 2 weeks are the hardest due to the amount of information at the start and it can be overwhelming.

One guy is becoming someone I don't want to work with. He's retired Army & finishing his degree. So he's older (30's), I'm 25, maybe that bothers him? His tone of voice when he asks me for help comes off as more demanding. He acts like he knows everything, but this is his first tax internship. He did some taxes through a college program, but I know the program only does basic returns. If I give him an answer that is not what he thinks, he argues with me. I've been doing this job at this firm for 4 years, I know that I am younger than him, but I do actually know more than him due to tax being a subject you learn from doing and repetition, not in college. He interrupts me when I'm talking to him, & wants to me stop helping the other interns to help him instead. I feel like I am wasting my breath every time I help him. I don't want to deal with this all tax season. I'm already stressed enough without this.

A coworker told me that he flat out ignored her emailed request to come see her so she could explain the corrections she told him to make on a return. I know he saw it because he fixed the return. She told me that he was rude to her, & that she thinks he's too cocky & he thinks he's too good for an internship. She basically refuses to help him now. She had a co-worker in her office talking, & he came into her office, says" sorry for interrupting" & then starts asking his question. He didn't even knock or see if it was a good time.

I'm not sure what to do. I plan to wait until the end of the week to see if he changes when he's more comfortable. Should I go to my boss & let her know the situation, or should I talk to him first? My concern with talking to him is that I don't feel like he respects me & I don't think anything I say will make things different.

Updates

+1 y

Well I finally made a decision. Yesterday his attitude pushed me over the edge. I wouldn't acknowledge him trying to ask me a question while I was helping another intern, (I was even mid sentence too) so he said "well forget it then" and stormed off. He left to go to school and I went to talk to my boss. She talked to some people at the office who has had problems with him and now she is talking to him the morning. She said that it was unacceptable and no one will talk like that in this office.

[Telekinetic-Potato]

If I were you I would ask him how he feels about people at the work place, gossip with him for a while, get him to feel comfortable around you and open up. This will tell you if he's truly a disrespectful person or if it's just his personality.

If you thnk it's just his personality you should ask him if anyone has ever accused him of being standoffish or something and it won't be hard to bring up after that that there's been a complaint. You need to explain to him that it's not always what you mean but how it's interpenetrated that matters and that if he can't stay on top of his behavior, it's gonna put you in a tough position. Make sure he feels that you are on his side and want to help him. This might be the way to go either way.

If he's just being a dick because he's an asshole, I would talk to your boss or whoever has a right to fire him and bring up your feelings. You tell your boss that this person is hurting the offices ability to perform work. You can confront him directly and tell him straight up with confidence, but not a bitchy attitude that he is hurting the workplace and that he needs to change his attitude immediately because several co-workers have described it as malicious. (even if they haven't)

Cocky perople are difficult to work with and the only way to get them to do what you want is to figure out how to either gain their respect, or make sure they feel they need you more than they see you as inferior. You cannot let him see or feel that anything he does is getting to you. If you can't fire him and he want's to play games, play games with him. You basically have to find a way to match his energy and end up on a similar wavelength.

And if it doesn't work, then you have to find ways of shunning him, have him do simple work in the back or something or stop relying on him entirely. He sounds like someone who's gonna let you down.

[MrCuriousBr]

This guy obviously has some social skills that need to be developed. Something has to been about his manner. It's a simple question of hierarchy: does your boss expect you to do something about it? Does your company have an HR department? Have you been informed of your duties, responsibilities and rights as intern supervisor?

Who ever has the authority to give him a heads up (change your tone or bye-bye for you) needs to do it ASAP. That's called feedback it's an essential skill in the workspace.

[hockeyaddict]

See that is what I am not sure about. I literally didn't even know I was going to be their supervisor until a week before they started. I was basically told I am their go to person for any questions, and I am in charge of managing their work load and making sure the tax returns are evenly distributed and nobody is too overwhelmed with work.

I have weekly meetings with my boss to go over the work load of the interns so she is aware of how much there is and if we need to shift some of the work to their people on the office. She really values open communication, but I have no idea if I am the one who is suppose to handle these kind of disputes or not.

[abundantlyrich]

I'd feel like if i were you - i ll let him know that if he keeps behAving like that, then he is making me more uncomfortable and ill have to mention it to my supervisor.

[BellePepper]

He's an intern. They're a dime a dozen. Like do you HAVE to go through the hassle?

[spencify]

tell him he needs to fix his attitude or you'll let your boss know

[spencify]

also, are you connor mcdavid's sister?

[hockeyaddict]

Sadly no I am not. 😑

[spencify]

separated at birth, you are very close in likeness to him