internship advice ig?
Hey everyone, I’m currently 1 month into a 6-month internship and I’m losing my mind. This place is incredibly toxic and I really need some advice on what to do.
Major red flags started from week one. The previous interns apparently quit early and refused to come back, so we got zero training. My "interview" wasn't even an interview—just them telling us what they do, and that manager is basically gone. I was hired for video editing and digital marketing, but my only actual task is changing product photos on Canva for their Shopee page, doing the whole process of packing their products and typing invoices?
The biggest issue is the language barrier. My supervisor just moved here from China 2 months ago and barely speaks English. Almost all instructions are given in Mandarin. The other intern understands a little bit, so he tries to translate for me, but he struggles too. The whole office speaks Mandarin and I feel completely isolated.
I told my school lecturer about the lack of communication and asked to change companies, but he just told me to "persevere." He called the boss, who basically told me I need to be "more understanding" because the staff are all from China.
Since then, the bias has gotten worse. The team makes small talk with the other intern while completely ignoring me. When he messes up, it's no big deal, but when I do, they blow up. The other day I made a mistake and the boss went straight to my supervisor to talk crap about me in Mandarin right in front of my face (the other intern overheard and confirmed it). Even my shoes keep getting aggressively shoved under the shoe cabinet or stepped on, while the other intern’s shoes are left untouched.
I feel trapped. My lecturer isn't helping, the environment is toxic, and I’m not learning anything relevant to my course.
Has anyone dealt with this?