Applying to internships with early deadlines? Keep your options open

Before anything else, stop to consider if you’re just cranking out internship applications to crank out internship applications. We encourage you to be targeted when applyings. Do the internships seem to be structured to allow you to get the kind of experience you want? Are they located where you need to be (or remote to accommodate health protocols)? Applying to any internship that vaguely seems like what you’re looking for will leave you putting work into things that you don’t necessarily want.

That said, if you have narrowed down the list of opportunities you’d like to apply to to a targeted group, further cutting that list in fear of having to choose from multiple offers later on is counteractive.You do not know if you will receive offers for any or all of the positions you are applying for.

So, put yourself in the position to have choices. Apply to those that fit your targeted list of criteria, then wait to hear about selections from the employer. If you get selected for one and not the others, then at least you put your resume out there and maximized your chances. But if you get selected for multiple opportunities, you are in the driver’s seat to accept or decline. If you didn’t apply, you would not have a chance at that luxury. Only throwing your hat into the ring for one or two opportunities narrows your chances of nabbing an internship all together.

What about if you get an offer from your second or third choice in a few weeks but you still haven’t heard from (or even applied to!) your top pick? That’s a bridge to cross when you come to it. It’s a bit of a game of hedging your bets.

You could accept the position offered to you so you have something secured. Or, you could decline and cross your fingers that your first choice pulls through. But we recommend another tactic: Ask the employer that extended the offer for a few days to think it over. Then, contact your top choice internship employer and ask where they are in the candidate reviewing process. If weeks away, you may decide that’s too long for you to wait. But if they’re going to decide in a day or so, perhaps you can buy more time to choose.

Learning more about your preferred company’s review timeline can help you make your decision. You can’t make a commitment and then back out of it later, though. This is a surefire way to burn bridges. If you find yourself in a scenario where you’re unsure whether to take the “sure thing” or wait out your other offers, reach out to the Newhouse Career Development Center at nhcdc@syr.edu! We can talk through your options with you to help you navigate the decision-making process.