<p>I was wondering if anybody could share the time frame of when they were drug tested for a summer internship with a large public accounting firm (such as Grant Thornton). Is it right after you accept the offer or right before you are about to start the internship? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.</p>
<p>You want to know when you should start abstaining from the delicious poppyseed rolls in the dining hall?</p>
<p>Different companies have different policies about drug testing. Some do it as part of the interview process - they won’t waste their time bringing you on site for an interview if you fail a drug test - and others do it as your prep for starting, once you have already accepted an offer, and still others do it somewhere in the middle. If you have been doing any drugs, you should stop before you start applying to jobs or accept the risk associated with doing drugs while looking for gainful employment.</p>
<p>From my experience with drug testing in the corporate world, they usually do it once you are considered for hire. If it’s a hair test especially, you’re probably going to get hired given that you do pass since these are generally expensive to administer. If it’s a pee test, they usually do this if they are considering you or just to “weed” people out since these are less expensive choices. Big companies usually go for the hair test from what I have seen though.</p>
<p>If you are searching for an internship, I would recommend you stop doing any illegal drugs within 4-6 months of your desired employment time. If they do hair testing, I believe the majority of companies only check back 3 months but it isn’t always accurate in terms of when the cut off for 3 months is. If you take prescription drugs, you’ll need to show proof during the drug test that they are legal.</p>