<p>How important is the learning experience (e.g. what you get to do during the internship) compared to the company name? Or do you choose depending which one aligns better with your career path? Currently debating between two offers and I'll most likely need to reply to both real soon. Thanks!</p>
<p>This is a good question. </p>
<p>I’d think it would be the one with most relevance to your career path, but I think if you get an internship at a good company you can build connections and stuff.</p>
<p>As long as you’re not doing something completely irrelevent in a well-known company, shouldn’t company name be bit more important in the long run as far as building your career? Just my thought. I’m already happy for you that you even have these options.</p>
<p>Well, there’s a clear compromise in both realms. You have to judge based on both factors and there is no obvious superiority, so it really depends on what specific choices you have.</p>
<p>I mean, I could really care less about the company’s name recognition but if it affects potential interview opportunities in the future, it might be smarter to go that route. </p>
<p>Also, do employers understand that we would possibly reject their offer for the internship after demonstrating my interest for the position? Is there a more gentle/kinder way to reject an offer?</p>
<p>
as long as you haven’t committed already (hopefully you didn’t say something like “see you on monday, then!” after the interview ended well) it should suffice to call your interviewer or if they differ, the HR person who hired you that “after further consideration” you have “realized” that this opportunity is not as good a fit for you as you had once imagined and that you must respectfully (& perhaps fit in “regrettably” in there somewhere too) decline their job offer / rescind your job application. no one signed anything in blood; you’re good to skip away free and elope with your secret lover internship you’ve been keeping on the downlow. good luck!</p>
<p>I think it depends on what you are doing vs. name. If it is brand name but all you do nothing substantial then it’s not worth it. But if both are somewhat substantial then yeah brand name would be better.</p>