<p>I recently applied and was all but accepted for a summer internship (unpaid) at my county courthouse. The interview went well, the interviewers seemed generally impressed, and explained to me exactly what I would be doing at the job. They complimented my resume and achievements and were enthusiastic about letting me join their ranks. All they said they needed to do was to run a mandatory background check. They gave me a business card and said that they would call me when it was time for me to start.</p>
<p>They never did. </p>
<p>It's been 2 1/2 weeks since the interview. I've already called them multiple times and gotten no response (always get the answering machine of the man who interviewed me, so I know it's the real phone number). I was pretty certain that I had the job in the bag, so I have no idea what happened to cause the delay. I have no criminal background at all.</p>
<p>I waited this long because I was sure that I had the job; it was a 40-hour a week job, so I didn't bother looking for volunteer work. Now I've about lost 3 weeks of a summer that I could've been using to do work. As a result, my parents now have me signed up for a class that will take up most of August, so working for this job is now pretty much impossible. </p>
<p>My question is, should I still put down that I was accepted for this internship, even though I was never able to work there? I don't want adcoms to believe that I simply did nothing for most of July-I had high hopes, great interest, and a strong commitment to working at this courthouse. I'm really not at all sure what happened.</p>
<p>Being accepted to an internship (especially if you can't get a hold of the people who accepted you in order to verify it) is essentially useless.</p>
<p>Being accepted to and then completing an internship is much more impressive.</p>
<p>I'm sorry that the internship didn't work out. It's probably their fault. Poorly organized, etc.</p>
<p>I don't have any additional words of wisdom, but I want to let you know that I feel for you, enderkin. My son has had similar experiences. An internship he began making arrangements for last winter which was all but finalized in the spring almost fell through despite repeated emails and phone calls by him. His persistence paid off, though, and he recently began work (after two wasted weeks of phone tag). In his case, I think the problem was that the office is a relatively new one and has been rather disorganized. Reading between the lines, it also seems like too many internships were promised to college-aged students for much work to be left over for high school students. I think planning for student intern staffing wasn't a big priority in setting up the office, and that the person who'd tentatively offered my son the position didn't anticipate what the demand for spots would be.</p>
<p>Almost as frustrating, my son also has been trying to volunteer with a local non-profit agency since last winter. He faxed them an application downloaded from their website, and has called and left messages and emailed several times. He has not even gotten a response acknowledging any of his attempts to contact the agency; he's feeling pretty discouraged, and is on the verge of giving up.</p>
<p>I always find it good advice to directly go to the office of wherever you're applying to to volunteer or intern at, because going yourself and in person shows that you're ready to be committed and also half-forces the people who work there to give you a job.</p>
<p>I wish I could put down the fact that working in a crowded office with 10 old ladies and a pair of female Asian interns is nothing less than an undue strain on the delicate equilibrium that exists within every sane man. I have never had so many rubber bands shot at my head and...pants. </p>