<p>Here's my situation:
I went to a school internship fair for my major (Advertising/PR) and got 4 interviews. I did 3 already and I have one next Thursday. I got 2 internship offers but am turning down one, and am waiting on the 3rd agency to contact me on whether I got it or not. The one offer that I am not turning down yet is really promising. I interviewed with them today and it seemed like a great place to intern at. </p>
<p>I let them know I was still in the interviewing process and would get back to them later on my decision on whether to accept or decline the offer, and they said it was fine, and they wanted to be a good fit for me. They seem to be really nice and I just hope they won't think less of me because I will take so long to let them know if I accept their offer or not. </p>
<p>Also, is there any way you can ask a firm if they would consider you as an intern for a different semester if you turn them down for the upcoming semester? For example, if I turn down a firm for Fall semester because I chose a different internship, would I be able to ask them if I could intern with them for the Spring? Or even to consider me at any later time? I feel like it would be awkward to turn down a firm for an internship and then go back to them later and ask for the internship again.</p>
<p>This is business! Shopping around for opportunities isn’t only accepted, it’s expected. If I am hiring someone, I would be a little concerned if he just turned down other promising opportunities as soon as he got my offer.</p>
<p>A company with confidence will have no problem waiting for you to accept an offer: the company knows that it is a good place to work, and it doesn’t want you to feel like you sacrificed other opportunities to work there. </p>
<p>It’s interesting to ask about deferring your internship. On the one hand, it could give the company some added stability, knowing that it doesn’t need to fill that position in the spring; on the other hand, there is no guarantee that you would get the internship against a different applicant pool. I presume that this is an issue because you a) know that the company that already gave you an offer has an internship program for the fall AND for the spring and b) know that the company for which you are waiting does NOT have a spring internship program. In this situation, I think it makes sense to explain, you want to work for the first company but recognize that you have two opportunities available and want to make decisions that are good for everyone.</p>
<p>I’d talk to a career adviser about this. It’s a great question. Regardless of what you choose to do, please post it on this forum; I’m sure others will be in a similar situation and would like some guidance just as you do!</p>
<p>Hey chrisw! Thanks for the awesome response. For the internship deferment thing, I’m actually thinking about it just because the firms that are pending are really reputable and known nationally while the firm I got the offer from is a bit smaller. They’re all great places but I feel like if I in fact do get an offer from the national firms, I need to jump on that opportunity and do their internship and not turn them down. I say this because I have hopes of moving out of the state I’m in now, and I think having interned at a place that has offices in other states will benefit me later on. So I guess to answer the question, it’s not an issue of who offers internships during spring and who doesn’t. </p>
<p>I know I’m thinking ahead of myself but I really don’t want to be caught off guard and sound unprofessional or anything. I think the two larger, national firms are more selective, so I can’t say they would pick me anyway. I just need to know what to do if I do get selected.</p>
<p>In that case, I would just wait and see. As long as you keep the company that already gave you an offer in the loop as things change, everything is alright. If you get an offer from the other companies, take it! If not, you have a fall back plan. :)</p>