Are internships drying up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC a sophomore at a top 5 college has no luck so far.

DS is a college junior and he will have an 11 weeks internship this summer for $55/hour at a tech company. Last year he got a $35/hour 11 weeks internship as a college sophomore. He got both internships through my BIL who is an SVP at the company. The company selected him over two CS candidates, one from UPenn and the other one from Brown. In summary, who you know will trump the top 5 colleges.

Idiots related to executives will always be chosen over more qualified candidates, nothing new there

This is definitely an ethics violation if your BIL did more than pass his resume along FYI. Hopefully the company won't find out until after he's hired your son on as a FT employee over more qualified candidates.

DP. No it's not an ethics violation. It's nepotism but there is nothing wrong with that. And I guarantee that as an SVP rank all he did was pass the resume to the TA team and hiring manager. They knew what to do from there.

There is an unwritten rule that when the referral comes from an SVP, it is almost a certainty that the candidate will be hired, regardless of qualifications. This goes on in both private and government sectors. Several of my SES friends who get internships for their kids with contractors that they themselves manage. There are rules but it is so easy to get around those rules, but hey as parents, you do everything possible to help your kids get a head start. No shame here.

It may be the way for private, but government has to be a lot more careful. All it takes is one hiring manager who has a grudge that you don't know about making a call to the IG

[Anonymous]

I guess I am in the minority but I do think it is unethical and shameful to ask for special favors for one’s child when there are candidates in the pool with better qualifications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC a sophomore at a top 5 college has no luck so far.

DS is a college junior and he will have an 11 weeks internship this summer for $55/hour at a tech company. Last year he got a $35/hour 11 weeks internship as a college sophomore. He got both internships through my BIL who is an SVP at the company. The company selected him over two CS candidates, one from UPenn and the other one from Brown. In summary, who you know will trump the top 5 colleges.

Idiots related to executives will always be chosen over more qualified candidates, nothing new there

I landed my DD an internship with a former employer. No shame. She's at a top undergrad business school, doing well there, and as competitive a talent as any other student in the mix. But pulling the strings absolutely helped her land it. Every parent should be doing this, if you have a network or rank, pull it for your kid. It's too competitive right now with layoffs, an uncertain economy etc. Some industries are thriving, some are hurting. If you don't have any pull or connections, ask your relatives.

It definitely helps if you can find any way to get an in for your kid, even if you don't have the pull of an SVP to guarantee a job. My son's been looking for an internship and applied for one at a company where my SIL is in HR. Her recommendation got his application elevated to the hiring team so he at least made it out of the big pool. He's now one of ten being interviewed for a job that had 80+ applicants. At this point it's on him to do well in the interview but just getting out of the scrum is a big help.

I used to hire interns for my team and there were definitely times I did a "courtesy interview" for someone who had been referred by a senior employee. That didn't mean they got the job but they got to compete in a much smaller pool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS got three internship offers in December '22 and January '23, accepted one offer and declined the other two. Today, the company that he accepted the offer informed him that due to budget constraints, it has to rescind the offer. The same thing also happened to one of my nephews that a different company that offered him the internship also rescinded the offer. It is now almost March so it is almost possible to find an internship. Anyone in the same boat as DS?

The lesson is he should have accepted all. Both my kids accepted two summer jobs. One will most likely get a pulled offer. That is the new world we live in

Terrible advice. Don’t teach your kid to accept
More than one offer on the chance that one of them will fall though. Because he’s knowingly leaving the company with an issue if it doesn’t fall though and he ends up picking the one he wants to stay with.

Yup, very unethical and could get you blackballed in the future if someone recognizes your kid's name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS got three internship offers in December '22 and January '23, accepted one offer and declined the other two. Today, the company that he accepted the offer informed him that due to budget constraints, it has to rescind the offer. The same thing also happened to one of my nephews that a different company that offered him the internship also rescinded the offer. It is now almost March so it is almost possible to find an internship. Anyone in the same boat as DS?

The lesson is he should have accepted all. Both my kids accepted two summer jobs. One will most likely get a pulled offer. That is the new world we live in

Terrible advice. Don’t teach your kid to accept
More than one offer on the chance that one of them will fall though. Because he’s knowingly leaving the company with an issue if it doesn’t fall though and he ends up picking the one he wants to stay with.

Hey, it is a dog-eat-dog world. When companies pay a price with on-campus recruiting...or better yet, stick to their internship commitment, then kids can be upstanding about job offers. I mean, internship programs are for 3 months...it is a minor expense for these companies in the scheme of things. If anything, they can make it 2 months instead of 3 which still gives the kid valuable experience.

But, until the day that companies act with integrity, they literally set the example for the kids...that their offer didn't mean anything and you have to look out for #1. Karma is a b***h, so it might come back to bite the kid in the ass. However, this idea that you owe a company anything...absolutely no.

You’d better hope 1 offer gets pulled. Those top crier internships don’t always lead to FT offers. And now you and DC have burned your bridges with the 2nd choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS got three internship offers in December '22 and January '23, accepted one offer and declined the other two. Today, the company that he accepted the offer informed him that due to budget constraints, it has to rescind the offer. The same thing also happened to one of my nephews that a different company that offered him the internship also rescinded the offer. It is now almost March so it is almost possible to find an internship. Anyone in the same boat as DS?

The lesson is he should have accepted all. Both my kids accepted two summer jobs. One will most likely get a pulled offer. That is the new world we live in

Terrible advice. Don’t teach your kid to accept
More than one offer on the chance that one of them will fall though. Because he’s knowingly leaving the company with an issue if it doesn’t fall though and he ends up picking the one he wants to stay with.

Hey, it is a dog-eat-dog world. When companies pay a price with on-campus recruiting...or better yet, stick to their internship commitment, then kids can be upstanding about job offers. I mean, internship programs are for 3 months...it is a minor expense for these companies in the scheme of things. If anything, they can make it 2 months instead of 3 which still gives the kid valuable experience.

But, until the day that companies act with integrity, they literally set the example for the kids...that their offer didn't mean anything and you have to look out for #1. Karma is a b***h, so it might come back to bite the kid in the ass. However, this idea that you owe a company anything...absolutely no.

You’d better hope 1 offer gets pulled. Those top crier internships don’t always lead to FT offers. And now you and DC have burned your bridges with the 2nd choice.

*top choice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess I am in the minority but I do think it is unethical and shameful to ask for special favors for one’s child when there are candidates in the pool with better qualifications.[/quote

How do you know what the qualifications of the other candidates are?? Or are you assuming that every child of every parent that has any kind of pull on this thread is an unintelligent, incompetent moron? What if those kids are NMF’s Deans List at an Ivy or Top 20?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC a sophomore at a top 5 college has no luck so far.

DS is a college junior and he will have an 11 weeks internship this summer for $55/hour at a tech company. Last year he got a $35/hour 11 weeks internship as a college sophomore. He got both internships through my BIL who is an SVP at the company. The company selected him over two CS candidates, one from UPenn and the other one from Brown. In summary, who you know will trump the top 5 colleges.

Seems like you are bragging, instead of being embarrassed over how your relative is squandering investors’ funds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC a sophomore at a top 5 college has no luck so far.

DS is a college junior and he will have an 11 weeks internship this summer for $55/hour at a tech company. Last year he got a $35/hour 11 weeks internship as a college sophomore. He got both internships through my BIL who is an SVP at the company. The company selected him over two CS candidates, one from UPenn and the other one from Brown. In summary, who you know will trump the top 5 colleges.

Idiots related to executives will always be chosen over more qualified candidates, nothing new there

See Kushner, White House intern extraordinaire (who could not even pass a background check).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS got three internship offers in December '22 and January '23, accepted one offer and declined the other two. Today, the company that he accepted the offer informed him that due to budget constraints, it has to rescind the offer. The same thing also happened to one of my nephews that a different company that offered him the internship also rescinded the offer. It is now almost March so it is almost possible to find an internship. Anyone in the same boat as DS?

The lesson is he should have accepted all. Both my kids accepted two summer jobs. One will most likely get a pulled offer. That is the new world we live in

Terrible advice. Don’t teach your kid to accept
More than one offer on the chance that one of them will fall though. Because he’s knowingly leaving the company with an issue if it doesn’t fall though and he ends up picking the one he wants to stay with.

+1 This is how we wind up with unethical people in society. Parents like this right here.

(Instead of teaching integrity, keeping your commitments. It is actually sad to see it in real time.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS got three internship offers in December '22 and January '23, accepted one offer and declined the other two. Today, the company that he accepted the offer informed him that due to budget constraints, it has to rescind the offer. The same thing also happened to one of my nephews that a different company that offered him the internship also rescinded the offer. It is now almost March so it is almost possible to find an internship. Anyone in the same boat as DS?

The lesson is he should have accepted all. Both my kids accepted two summer jobs. One will most likely get a pulled offer. That is the new world we live in

Terrible advice. Don’t teach your kid to accept
More than one offer on the chance that one of them will fall though. Because he’s knowingly leaving the company with an issue if it doesn’t fall though and he ends up picking the one he wants to stay with.

+1 This is how we wind up with unethical people in society. Parents like this right here.

(Instead of teaching integrity, keeping your commitments. It is actually sad to see it in real time.)

I understand the rational and mild moral corruption involved with accepting two internships. But it has to be a strategic move as well. Your kid will be blackballed at that other company (even if they were to decline now, never mind late in the season). If it is a throw away company, so be it, but in similar circumstances, when two offers came in within two weeks for my DC, I told them to notify the other company asap (this was in November) so that they could still fill the slot. They may still be blackballed in the future who knows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC a sophomore at a top 5 college has no luck so far.

DS is a college junior and he will have an 11 weeks internship this summer for $55/hour at a tech company. Last year he got a $35/hour 11 weeks internship as a college sophomore. He got both internships through my BIL who is an SVP at the company. The company selected him over two CS candidates, one from UPenn and the other one from Brown. In summary, who you know will trump the top 5 colleges.

Idiots related to executives will always be chosen over more qualified candidates, nothing new there

This is definitely an ethics violation if your BIL did more than pass his resume along FYI. Hopefully the company won't find out until after he's hired your son on as a FT employee over more qualified candidates.

DP. No it's not an ethics violation. It's nepotism but there is nothing wrong with that. And I guarantee that as an SVP rank all he did was pass the resume to the TA team and hiring manager. They knew what to do from there.

There is an unwritten rule that when the referral comes from an SVP, it is almost a certainty that the candidate will be hired, regardless of qualifications. This goes on in both private and government sectors. Several of my SES friends who get internships for their kids with contractors that they themselves manage. There are rules but it is so easy to get around those rules, but hey as parents, you do everything possible to help your kids get a head start. No shame here.

My, my. I guess that isn’t considered anything MSPBish

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS got three internship offers in December '22 and January '23, accepted one offer and declined the other two. Today, the company that he accepted the offer informed him that due to budget constraints, it has to rescind the offer. The same thing also happened to one of my nephews that a different company that offered him the internship also rescinded the offer. It is now almost March so it is almost possible to find an internship. Anyone in the same boat as DS?

The lesson is he should have accepted all. Both my kids accepted two summer jobs. One will most likely get a pulled offer. That is the new world we live in

Terrible advice. Don’t teach your kid to accept
More than one offer on the chance that one of them will fall though. Because he’s knowingly leaving the company with an issue if it doesn’t fall though and he ends up picking the one he wants to stay with.

+1 This is how we wind up with unethical people in society. Parents like this right here.

(Instead of teaching integrity, keeping your commitments. It is actually sad to see it in real time.)

Please spare me the moral and integrity thing. Companies will layoff people without blinking an eye. You have to look out for number #1 first and foremost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess I am in the minority but I do think it is unethical and shameful to ask for special favors for one’s child when there are candidates in the pool with better qualifications.[/quote

How do you know what the qualifications of the other candidates are?? Or are you assuming that every child of every parent that has any kind of pull on this thread is an unintelligent, incompetent moron? What if those kids are NMF’s Deans List at an Ivy or Top 20?

By calling in a special favor from a friend or relative the parent is deciding a priori that the child was unlikely to get the job on merit alone. In any case, I wasn’t inferring that the child was incompetent. Asking for special treatment is unethical regardless of the child’s qualifications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess I am in the minority but I do think it is unethical and shameful to ask for special favors for one’s child when there are candidates in the pool with better qualifications.[/quote

How do you know what the qualifications of the other candidates are?? Or are you assuming that every child of every parent that has any kind of pull on this thread is an unintelligent, incompetent moron? What if those kids are NMF’s Deans List at an Ivy or Top 20?

By calling in a special favor from a friend or relative the parent is deciding a priori that the child was unlikely to get the job on merit alone. In any case, I wasn’t inferring that the child was incompetent. Asking for special treatment is unethical regardless of the child’s qualifications.

You judge but you obviously don’t work in business. And you obviously have never benefited from anyone endorsing you in your career to help you get a leg up. It’s how the world works. And not just during internships. Every VP in every company has been given the nod somewhere along the line.