<p>So Ive read this forum for a while and finally decided to make an account today to ask this question. And hopefully answer some questions as well.</p>
<p>Im an undergraduate student and I accepted an internship offer with company X. I politely notified company Y, who I was interviewing with simultaneously, that I have accepted another offer and wish to withdraw my application for their internship program. A recruiter from company Y has contacted me politely asking what my plans are. I take it this means where I accepted an offer and why.</p>
<p>So here is my question: is it ethical to tell company Ys recruiter where I accepted another offer and why? Should I refer to company X by name in my response? How detailed should I be in my explanation? I know Im not obligated to explain anything, but I dont want to burn bridges, recruiters are good contacts.</p>
<p>You handled this situation entirely correctly. There is nothing unethical about giving another company information about you as a human resource; that is entirely your decision. You control exactly how much information you divulge. In that vein, if you choose to tell the company that you are simply pursuing another option, that is fine, and if you choose to give the specific details regarding why you accepted another offer, that is also fine. </p>
<p>It’s all business, and the fact that you dutifully and quickly notified company Y that you were withdrawing from consideration means that you probably didn’t burn any bridges. If you apply to them for a FT job next year, it COULD be held against you, but it isn’t all that likely to have any negative impact. And it almost certainly will have no negative impact on your applications to other companies.</p>