PackDaddy
Don Juan
Hi everyone, I am having a very serious problem that could eventually jeopardize my career. I am humbly asking the Don Juan community for help on this one. I am hoping that by giving you gentlemen the facts, we can reach a consensus on the preferred choice of action. This will be a long read, so any opinions will be much appreciated.
So here are the facts:
I'm about to start my internship at a very large/prestigious company. I have worked very hard for this internship. I am one of 8 interns from my school that will be interning with this firm within the next two weeks. However, I have been butting heads with a fellow soon-to-be colleague. We have been butting heads for the past year and I do not foresee him cutting out his antics any time soon. On a scale of "distrust," my rating for this particular individual flies off the scale; there is always an ulterior motive. So now let me describe this guy. He is power hungry, and I mean starving. He has no concept of respect, except for when there is an immediate reward for him. So he disrespects his fellow business students all the time. He purposefully puts others down, and will immediately expose their faults. He is however charismatic, outgoing, creative, and very smart. This has earned him huge points with our firm. Since he is also good at acting, he puts on a great poker face. However, his judgment is not the greatest. He has 2 DUIs already and is a loose canon. I also know this individual will start rumors in an attempt to take people down that he doesn't like. One thing that should stand out now by the way, is that not only do I have problems with him, but many others do as well. He is so damn good at covering his intentions and trails though. To sum it up, this guy is the charismatic and corrupt politician; he is a social engineer in the making.
Lately he has been trying to damage my reputation at the firm. He tried this once already when he and I had leadership positions in a school organization. What he does is calls out my mistakes whenever I make them (does this to others as well). Because he is charismatic, the people I will be working with will tend to believe him.
Not to say I don't have some degree of charisma too. I am outgoing and fun, like him. I command a strong will, and high degree of self-respect. I too am intelligent. However, I am not sure who is more cunning yet, between the two of us.
Here is the dilemma I face in making a choice on mode of action:
If I play this little game with him, he will be one persistent mother****er. He will keep tabs on me. This will force me to do the same. If this is kept up, it will eventually become visible to our colleagues that we are having problems. This is not something I want. I also do not want to put the damn effort in with him; I hate game playing. So I'm looking for a quick solution.
Here's a few ideas of my own:
1. Call upon a higher-up. Not only does he have DUIs, but I have been privy to a whole bunch of shady things he has done in the past that our future employer will not like to hear. I would think this would damage his reputation, and possibly have him terminated. However, if I do this I will also sell out a group of approximately 10 fellow students. Basically, we all promised each other we would never repeat anything we heard about him when we were deliberating upon his candidacy for a position in the aforementioned school organization. Some of these colleagues will also work alongside me at this firm. This could create a huge backfire. Yet, I'm thinking if I consult the campus recruiter, there's some chance they won't ever repeat what I tell them.
2. Call him out every time he publicly questions my mistakes and bring up some of his mistakes, reminding him that I have ammunition, and also showing everyone else that he is no angel. Again though, I think this will provoke him into incessantly keeping tabs on my mistakes and create a game playing war.
3. Confront him one on one and tell him to cut it out. However, when he disrespected me in the past, I did confront him when we were alone. He played stupid and no progress was made.
4. Confront him and threaten him. Tell him that I will expose him. However, this gives him time to devise a plan. Probably the worst option.
5. Confront and intimidate. If calling him out man to man doesn't work, then get physical. Beat him up a little bit and put the fear of god in him. However, if I leave any marks, and there's always a chance, then there's evidence for an attorney to take advantage of. In this scenario, I could face prison.
6. If confronting him and warning him doesn't work, then... Don't think any more words need to be said... However, this alternative if done incorrectly could also have a prison sentence.
I also have to assume that he will seek revenge. So my real options are: Leave the firm (run away from my problems), start a war with him, go to a higher up and damage his rep (might damage mine as well), or escalate to physical harm and possibly lose everything.
I'm guessing he's targeting me because he is afraid of me for some reason. Maybe he's jealous. I'll probably never know. I will not give up an opportunity for a successful career/life because of some little punk though.
I also have to assume he is, has, or will think of exactly what I'm thinking at some point. This will give him further motive to take me down. I also think given the opportunity he would beat me to a pulp or possibly kill me. Yes, this may seem like overreacting. But, again I have heard about his shady past and know his sociopath personality profile.
Lastly, I am cordial with him. So I believe i may have the element of surprise on my side.
So here are the facts:
I'm about to start my internship at a very large/prestigious company. I have worked very hard for this internship. I am one of 8 interns from my school that will be interning with this firm within the next two weeks. However, I have been butting heads with a fellow soon-to-be colleague. We have been butting heads for the past year and I do not foresee him cutting out his antics any time soon. On a scale of "distrust," my rating for this particular individual flies off the scale; there is always an ulterior motive. So now let me describe this guy. He is power hungry, and I mean starving. He has no concept of respect, except for when there is an immediate reward for him. So he disrespects his fellow business students all the time. He purposefully puts others down, and will immediately expose their faults. He is however charismatic, outgoing, creative, and very smart. This has earned him huge points with our firm. Since he is also good at acting, he puts on a great poker face. However, his judgment is not the greatest. He has 2 DUIs already and is a loose canon. I also know this individual will start rumors in an attempt to take people down that he doesn't like. One thing that should stand out now by the way, is that not only do I have problems with him, but many others do as well. He is so damn good at covering his intentions and trails though. To sum it up, this guy is the charismatic and corrupt politician; he is a social engineer in the making.
Lately he has been trying to damage my reputation at the firm. He tried this once already when he and I had leadership positions in a school organization. What he does is calls out my mistakes whenever I make them (does this to others as well). Because he is charismatic, the people I will be working with will tend to believe him.
Not to say I don't have some degree of charisma too. I am outgoing and fun, like him. I command a strong will, and high degree of self-respect. I too am intelligent. However, I am not sure who is more cunning yet, between the two of us.
Here is the dilemma I face in making a choice on mode of action:
If I play this little game with him, he will be one persistent mother****er. He will keep tabs on me. This will force me to do the same. If this is kept up, it will eventually become visible to our colleagues that we are having problems. This is not something I want. I also do not want to put the damn effort in with him; I hate game playing. So I'm looking for a quick solution.
Here's a few ideas of my own:
1. Call upon a higher-up. Not only does he have DUIs, but I have been privy to a whole bunch of shady things he has done in the past that our future employer will not like to hear. I would think this would damage his reputation, and possibly have him terminated. However, if I do this I will also sell out a group of approximately 10 fellow students. Basically, we all promised each other we would never repeat anything we heard about him when we were deliberating upon his candidacy for a position in the aforementioned school organization. Some of these colleagues will also work alongside me at this firm. This could create a huge backfire. Yet, I'm thinking if I consult the campus recruiter, there's some chance they won't ever repeat what I tell them.
2. Call him out every time he publicly questions my mistakes and bring up some of his mistakes, reminding him that I have ammunition, and also showing everyone else that he is no angel. Again though, I think this will provoke him into incessantly keeping tabs on my mistakes and create a game playing war.
3. Confront him one on one and tell him to cut it out. However, when he disrespected me in the past, I did confront him when we were alone. He played stupid and no progress was made.
4. Confront him and threaten him. Tell him that I will expose him. However, this gives him time to devise a plan. Probably the worst option.
5. Confront and intimidate. If calling him out man to man doesn't work, then get physical. Beat him up a little bit and put the fear of god in him. However, if I leave any marks, and there's always a chance, then there's evidence for an attorney to take advantage of. In this scenario, I could face prison.
6. If confronting him and warning him doesn't work, then... Don't think any more words need to be said... However, this alternative if done incorrectly could also have a prison sentence.
I also have to assume that he will seek revenge. So my real options are: Leave the firm (run away from my problems), start a war with him, go to a higher up and damage his rep (might damage mine as well), or escalate to physical harm and possibly lose everything.
I'm guessing he's targeting me because he is afraid of me for some reason. Maybe he's jealous. I'll probably never know. I will not give up an opportunity for a successful career/life because of some little punk though.
I also have to assume he is, has, or will think of exactly what I'm thinking at some point. This will give him further motive to take me down. I also think given the opportunity he would beat me to a pulp or possibly kill me. Yes, this may seem like overreacting. But, again I have heard about his shady past and know his sociopath personality profile.
Lastly, I am cordial with him. So I believe i may have the element of surprise on my side.