Reneging Internship

[Anonymous]

I hire interns and I'd have no problem with her changing her mind and declining. I can find a million interns, she's quite replaceable. There are no legal repercussions, its "at will" employment just like any other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That happened to me way back in 2002. Looking back, the internship I accepted first and kept because my parents urged me to "do the right thing" was a nightmare. I actually left it a month early and had an abusive boss. The internship I had received the offer for later would have been a life-changing one. I still encounter the work of the organization all these years later- it was in its infancy at the time- and wish I could have been part of it.

The lesson I've learned from 20 years of work is that loyalty in the corporate world is not rewarded or remembered.

+1 Remember this when they enter the workforce full time. Always look out for yourself first.

[Anonymous]

Would it be better for her to email or call about her decision to the other company given she receives an offer from the second company? Also should she contact the HR person she has been working with, the hiring managers, or both?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD is an incoming senior. She accepted an internship offer at a small company in a field she is not very interested in a couple of weeks ago out of fear of not having anything else. As pure feast or famine fashion has it, she has received three internship offers since then after months of silence and ghosting. She is pretty confident she will get the internship she had an interview for last Thursday. It is for a bigger company and seems more flexible with hours. Most importantly, felt her conversation with the hiring manager was like a mother daughter or friend talk, not a nervous, boss kind of interview that she has experienced with many other hiring managers over the past few months. She is expecting to hear back early this week about the decision for her first choice. If she gets this opportunity, will it look bad to renege on the offer she already accepted. She already has her background check cleared for the company and is just waiting to start the onboarding process this week with HR. Is this foolish and will the company be very mad?

You had me until here. You really don’t know whether it will look bad?

[Anonymous]

First, of course there are no legal consequences.

She should let the first internship know asap, be up front that she accepted the offer while she had other applications out, that she unexpectedly received an offer which on reflection is a better fit for her goals/interests whatever, and therefore she is respectfully asking to be released from her commitment.

It’s fine. They’ll get over it and fill the slot with someone else.

[Anonymous]

^^Me again. Employers renege on internship and even job offers ALL THE TIME these days so employees need to look out for their own best interests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Similar dilemma for my kid. Just finished freshman year of college. Accepted a camp job a couple of weeks ago. JUST received an offer for an internship. Fortunately she feels guilty (has a heart), but will be taking the internship. Camp doesn't start for another month, so hopefully the resignation won't put the camp in too big a bind.

The camp has already vetted its staff, done background checks and rejected other applicants; they have set up the assignments with the campers and activites. WTF is wrong with you people?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Similar dilemma for my kid. Just finished freshman year of college. Accepted a camp job a couple of weeks ago. JUST received an offer for an internship. Fortunately she feels guilty (has a heart), but will be taking the internship. Camp doesn't start for another month, so hopefully the resignation won't put the camp in too big a bind.

The camp has already vetted its staff, done background checks and rejected other applicants; they have set up the assignments with the campers and activites. WTF is wrong with you people?

And they could tell her to stay home the Sunday before day 1 because there aren't enough campers.

[Anonymous]

We had an intern do that, and she burned a bridge with us but I could see it was the right move for her. There won’t be any real long-term cost because that candidate wanted her career to go in a slightly different direction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had an intern do that, and she burned a bridge with us but I could see it was the right move for her. There won’t be any real long-term cost because that candidate wanted her career to go in a slightly different direction.

How did that intern tell your company that she was backing out of the offer

[Anonymous]

This happens all the time. It’s just business. My son accepted a safety job in the fall to start after graduation. He got better offers and declined the safety job as soon as he could- they were fine. The job he accepted has about 40 other graduating students all due to start the same day. At least five have taken other positions and dropped.

[Anonymous]

Several years ago I had an entry level position to fill and called our favorite intern from the last year to offer him the job. He accepted right away. Told me later that he's been at orientation for a job he wasn't that interested in. Maybe he burned a bridge walking out of orientation but who cares. It wasn't the industry he wanted to be in.

Take the job that will best help you grow in the direction you want to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Similar dilemma for my kid. Just finished freshman year of college. Accepted a camp job a couple of weeks ago. JUST received an offer for an internship. Fortunately she feels guilty (has a heart), but will be taking the internship. Camp doesn't start for another month, so hopefully the resignation won't put the camp in too big a bind.

The camp has already vetted its staff, done background checks and rejected other applicants; they have set up the assignments with the campers and activites. WTF is wrong with you people?

Please, please, please don’t make your kid continue with a job that isn’t the right decision for them. I know you think there should be some ethics, but the company won’t think for a second dropping your kid’s offer if they decide it no longer makes sense. They may do that 24 hours before your kid is supposed to show.

You seem to think we still live in the 50s where companies were like family. We don’t. A kid may burn bridges, but as others have commented from the company side…they understand the current world of jobs.

[Anonymous]

I think an email should be sufficient

[Anonymous]

It’s fine. Nobody is even going to remember her name.