Intern on $80k bosses around coworkers, manager considers intervention: 'She talks down to people'

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
May 4, 2026 1:15 PM EDT

Dealing with arrogant management may be bad, but facing similar treatment from a coworker less senior than you can sometimes be worse.

Confidence in the workplace is an important trait to develop at all stages of a career. Those who are the most likely to succeed are usually the people who put themselves forward and make their contributions noticeable. That being said, there is a fine line between being self-assured and being a nuisance. When you are working within a team, ego can only take you so far—especially if you are a more junior member of staff.

Most of those who are good at their jobs know how to maintain this balance between being confident in themselves, but also considerate about how they treat those around them. Going too off balance either way can lead to problems later down the line. For those just starting out, this can be an even bigger issue, as their ambitions may be crushed before they even really begin. Nobody deserves to be treated poorly because of a lack of seniority, but it likely is not going to be appreciated by everyone when somebody tries to overcompensate for this. It can be an energy that is hard to cooperate with.

 

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  • A young female employee smiles as she sits at a meeting room table with her laptop
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A young female employee smiles as she sits at a meeting room table with her laptop

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • In this story, a manager was struggling with an intern in the same department whose behavior was upsetting some of their colleagues. This junior employee frequently acted like she was in a much more senior position than she actually was, and had a tendency to be impolite and inconsiderate to some of those she worked with.

    In particular, she upset somebody whom the supervisor managed, but they were worried about stepping in as she did not directly report to them. She was also liked by their own manager. They were looking for some guidance on how best to proceed in this situation.

  • Arrogant intern. How to address?

    The company I work for has an excellent intern program. They rotate our interns between departments of their choice and pay very well. This particular intern works in the same department as me and is paid $80k with this being her first workplace experience after school. We'll call her Ann.
    via Smolfeelings
  • She talks down to people, delegates work as if she is at a senior level and will blame others for mistakes shes made. I've also seen her "steal" work from others - meaning she'll take over a task and cut the person who was actually assigned the task out of it.
    via Smolfeelings
  • Lastly, and this is minor, she lies on her email signature and linkedin claiming that she is a regular senior employee and not an intern.
    via Smolfeelings
  • I have a few employees under me and one in particular, we'll call Sara, has complained multiple times to me. I've witnessed Ann being incredibly r de, condescending tone and treat Sara like she is...to put it bluntly...an idiot. These interactions really frustrate Sara to the point where she will lose her cool.
    via Smolfeelings
  • I am new as a manager and am not sure how to address this. I am not Anna manager and my direct manager does not want to be bothered with these types of problems my direct manager also happens to really like Ann.
    via Smolfeelings
  • Should I talk to her directly? Ignore it? What is this best way to deal with this?
    via Smolfeelings
  • A young female employee crosses her arms and smiles
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A young female employee crosses her arms and smiles

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Otto Kermitten People like that succeed in Corporate America because their victims are told to be the bigger person.
    via Otto_Kermitten
  • ProspectForgeUS You're not Ann's manager so going direct to her puts you in a weird spot, especially when your boss already likes her. More risk than reward there.
    via ProspectForgeUS
  • What you can actually do is protect Sara. Coach her on not losing her cool because right now Ann wins every time Sara reacts. Document what Sara brings to you, dates and specifics. If this ever needs to go somewhere officially you want a paper trail not a he said she said.
    via ProspectForgeUS
  • The LinkedIn and email signature thing is your cleanest angle if it ever comes to it. It's not subjective, it's just factually wrong and most companies take misrepresentation seriously.
    via ProspectForgeUS
  • naturalistlifestyle Question who is Ann's boss? | - would be telling them that they need to have a conversation with her about professionalism. Maybe loop in HR
    via naturalistlifestyle
  • Icedtea4me3 I agree with talking to Ann's manager. If that doesn't work maybe somehow loop in HR
    via Icedtea4me3
  • why888when888 As a manager, it is your job to manage this. Every time there is an issue, you need to document it and address it directly via email. There should be some one-on- ones. Professionalism, work place
    via why888when888
  • conduct, write-ups, PIPs are needed here. If "Ann" is simply arrogant and it was a momentary power trip, this should tone it down. If there are additional issues that cannot be corrected, terminate her. We don't need
    via why888when888
  • more toxic managers. Although your are not Ann's direct manager, someone needs to take accountability. As long as the interactions with the intern are called out and documented, management cannot ignore it.
    via why888when888
  • This is important from an ER standpoint because historically, it's people like Ann that people huge liabilities for companies later down the line.
    via why888when888
  • Inter-Mezzo5141 Why can't you call out Ann directly? She's an intern, lowest on the totem pole, and is buying your employee. Call out everything she does. "Ann, I assigned that project to Sara."
    via Inter-Mezzo5141
  • "Ann, it is not appropriate for you as an intern to dictate work to my employee." "Ann, that sort of time is not acceptable in our workplace". She's doing it because she's being allowed to get away with it. What's she going to do? Go to her superior and explain
    via Inter-Mezzo5141
  • why she should be allowed to take and delegate work?
    via Inter-Mezzo5141

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