<p>I'm home for the summer, and I've applied to several internships that I'm still waiting to hear back from (I don't know if they'll actually inform me if I didn't get the internship, which is the annoying part). I'm also starting to apply for jobs (like at the mall). </p>
<p>My question is, should I just apply for everything now and see what I can get? The problem is, what if I start working somewhere and then I get something else I wanted; do I just quit the other place? I'd feel really bad if I was hired as someone's intern and then quit 2 days later. But I know that if I wait a few weeks and then apply for jobs, I'll have a lower chance of getting one.</p>
<p>I know this is kind of a dumb question but it's giving me a headache thinking about. So basically...apply for everything? Or wait and see what happens first?</p>
<p>Go ahead and apply to everything that you can. It's pretty late for internships to be coming out. But if by chance you get an internship and then <em>another</em> one came along, then keep the first one - after all, what you really want is an internship, and in that case you already have one. </p>
<p>But if you get a 'mall' type job and then an intership comes along, I don't see anything wrong with quitting. </p>
<p>That being said, my D just found out she got an internship at our local international aerospace company (thanks to 2 interns unexpectedly dropping out). When no internships had panned out for her, she had resigned herself to a well-deserved 'loaf' this summer, but now she won't have to. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>I pretty much agree with Don't Panic. If you take Internship #1 and Internship #2 comes along that you like better, it may not be wise to quite #1 for #2. But if an internship comes along when you have a mall-type job, I think you can safely leave the one for the other, giving as much notice as you possibly can (up to 2 weeks).</p>
<p>Last year, my S got an internship job fairly late in May. He applied online to a local tech company (his field) and was hired the next day. So it can still happen.</p>
<p>At any rate, until you have a job, apply for everything.</p>
<p>Yes I agree, apply to everything! You never know what will come through.</p>
<p>I'm not sure what your interests are, but have you applied for internships at any non-profit organizations? While they usually don't have great pay, it is great experience. Those types of organizations really let you get your hands into a bit of everything which will look great on your resume. I think that non-profits often have a hard time finding interns too!</p>
<p>It would be entirely appropriate at this point to e-mail the companies/organizations where you applied for internships and let them you that you're still interested. You can also give them your home contact information (in fact, giving them this information can be your excuse for writing); you probably gave them your campus contact information when you first applied.</p>
<p>It can't hurt to remind them of your existence.</p>
<p>My daughter applied for more than 20 internships. The one she finally got was with an organization that she wrote to repeatedly (but politely), periodically reminding them of her existence, ever since her interview in January. She finally got an offer from them the first week in May and will start the day after Memorial Day. She was told that her persistence was a big part of why they hired her.</p>
<p>My son has received two research internship announcements by his department this week and they're both pretty interesting but one requires a lot of travel (around the country). Our original plans were for him to relax for a while and then figure out what he wants to do. Summer school is a possibilty as is learning how to manage a small hedge fund. At the moment, he's studying for finals and is already somewhat burned out.</p>