How To Choose Between Internship Offers : Use These Tips

Congratulations for bagging and receiving multiple internship offers. You were challenged to give your best shot during recruitment and got selected. Now you have two or more internship offers at hand and you can’t decide which one to choose? How should you evaluate which opportunities align with your professional goals? How to choose between internship offers?

You could be facing any of the below dilemmas:

Case 1 - You have two favourable options to choose from and need to carefully evaluate

Case 2 - You are yet to hear from the company for a role you were really looking forward to join

Case 3 - You have made your decision and ain’t sure how to respond

As you read the article further, we shall keep referring to the three cases just discussed, to help put things more in perspective for you.

How do you choose your best-fit internship in case 1, that is, when you have multiple internship offers and can’t seem to take your call. These pointers may help you decide:-

Seek Into The Future

Reflection Point: Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Is this position helping you to reach where you want to be?

Internships are the moves that will in all likelihood help to determine the course of your professional journey. It is sometimes difficult to choose between multiple internship offers. Depending on where you want to be, if you are in high school and exploring the professional space and field, you should choose an internship in the industry you are most passionate about exploring. If you are pursuing graduation, then go with the option that will most likely turn into a full- time employment opportunity.

Know Your Duties

Reflection Point: Will this benefit my professional growth? Will you gain a wide variety of experiences through this internship?

It is common for students to get a little carried away with the multiple internship offers and the companies that have extended it, and thereby forget to ask what duties they will be expected to perform. Don’t join a company because your parents, siblings, or friends are already there. This could be one factor to favour an offer but look at the offer holistically. If you end up disliking the job and tasks you have to perform, you will end up resenting the organisation itself. Look at the breadth of duties you have to perform. Adapting this way for choosing between multiple internship offers will set you up for the job you wish to hold in the future.

Company Culture

Reflection Point: How did you feel after meeting the people you will work with during the interview? Are they open, warm, welcoming?

Having to choose between multiple internship offers will put you in a dilemma. Trust what you feel and sense when you are interacting with the members of the company. You have to work with these people and a favourable environment incentivises your growth and learning. While this point could be easily ignored, even early in your professional life, a wholesome culture that supports its employees could give you a taste of what you must look for in colleagues and team for collaboration and communication, thereby helping you in the longer professional run.

You Have To Work With People And In An Environment That Incentivises Your Growth And Learning

Read further to know more about how to choose between internship offers.

The Score Card Trick

What do you do when you have multiple internship offers ? The below trick would help in making an effective choice:-

First and foremost, list down your priorities. Rank them so the most important is at the top and the least important at the bottom. Don’t worry, this list will change as per where you are in your life at the present moment. Maybe at that particular point, monetary compensation holds more value to you over getting in the specific field of your interest. Or, a great mentor holds precedence over the dream company. Now, match the list of priorities with the job offer and write a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ against each one of them. Will you be getting a great mentor in offer 1 or offer 2? The option with the most yes will emerge as the winner.

Going back to cases 2 and 3, if you want to communicate to the company about needing more time to decide, want the process to fasten up, accept or decline an offer after you have written an application for internship, use the tips given below. This will help you choose between multiple internship offers.

Also Read: Preparing For The First Day Of Your Internship

Buy Yourself Some Time

Here is what your communication to the company can look like in cases when you need some more time to decide whether or not you want to take up that role.

Dear Sir,

Thank you for the offer. I had a great time getting to know the company and the team. I am grateful for this offer. I am interested in this opportunity but I need some time to revert for acceptance. I am serious about making a decision and I want to be 100% positive about my choice. Can I get back to you in a week/ three days?

Regards,

NAME

Reflection Points | The company also has other candidates they want to extend an offer to, so keeping the company waiting for a long time does not give out a good impression. It is always better that once you have written an application for internship, ask them for time than not responding back. While doing this you have to evaluate how urgently they need to fill out this role. But you don’t want to push it too far. Also, they might refuse to give you time for making a decision.

Follow Up

You might have multiple internship offers but there is another company with which you are really looking forward to work. You can send them a follow-up mail, like the one below:-

Dear Sir, Ma’am,

I am really interested in this position of Marketing Intern. I have an offer from another organisation as well. Would we be able to expedite the interview process? Please let me know when we can connect over call to discuss a few questions about the roll and further process. Should you need anything from my end you can feel free to contact me - +91 00000000000

Warm Regards,
NAME

Reflection Points | Most likely, this would generate an internal discussion within the company about whether or not it would be possible for them to speeden up the process. But, do not use this as a measure to negotiate and play a fluke when you don't really have an offer in hand. Only use this as an application for internship.

Read ahead to know more about how to choose between internship offers?

Mail For Acceptance

Now that you have sent in your application for internship and come to a conclusion in your search, go ahead and share an email of acceptance with the HR! Also, reconfirm the dates, the time, your place of work, and reporting manager on mail if you haven’t received this information already. The mail could be drafted as:-

Dear Sir/ Ma’am,

Thank you for considering me for the position of Service Intern. I am thrilled to accept this offer. I am sure I will enjoy my time learning at this company from the team. I confirm my presence from DATE till DATE.

Warm Regards,

Name

Also read: Nailing Your Internship Interview: FAQs And Tips To Answer

Mail To Decline An Offer

When you have made your decision and know which option to consider between multiple internship offers, make it a point to communicate to the organisation by withdrawing your application for internship, or declining the offer you've received, since not doing so would look unprofessional. Always remember, you might cross paths with these people again and don’t want yourself to be looked at in a bad picture. The mail could be like:-

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your generous offer. I am grateful for the process of interview and selection, I learned a lot during the process. Unfortunately, I will be unable to join at this time and have accepted another role which is more in tune with my interests this summer.

I hope to stay connected and wish I could be considered for another role in the future. Thank you again for your time and consideration.

Warm Regards,

Name

The whole idea of doing an internship is to land at your dream job and dream company. While you might not have a smooth landing in the first place, choosing between multiple internship offers for yourself and evaluating the best options will make the journey ahead less treacherous. In the end, whatever you choose; do your best and make the best out of the opportunities you have!

Also Read: Why And How To Document Your Internship

Parisraja Bajpai is an Organisational Psychologist, with extensive hands-on experience in talent acquisition, talent management, employee counselling, employee engagement, training and development. She is currently heading HR department at Nexstgo. Views expressed in the article are of the author and do not reflect those of the company she is associated with.