Will You Take Your Job Offer from Internship or Wait?

Question

Class of 2011,

Here's a scenario for our near future.
Let's fast forward to the summer of 2010.

Let's pretend that we've just completed our 1st year and we are almost done with our summer internship. Before the summer internship actually began, the competition for the few internship spots were fierce. There were classmates who couldn't find a paid summer internship like the rest of us.

Imagine that in 2009, more layoffs were announced throughout the year. Unemployment rate stayed around 9% nationally. Towards the beginning of 2010, economists started reporting that finally, the country's GDP generated a positive economic growth in the previous quarter - although not officially confirmed by National Bureau of Economic Research. Also, economists predicted that this trend will continue into the current quarter. (This is not a prediction, just a scenario)

Now, imagine that your summer internship is about to end in 2 weeks. Your supervisor invites you into his/her office and thanks you for your contribution in the last 8 weeks. Then he/she drops the good news. He/she offers you a full time job offer upon graduation. However, the offer expires in 3 weeks, before you can participate in Fall 2010 on campus recruiting. (also the offer is binding)

Forget whether this job is exactly what you are looking for from the very start or it is just an opportunity that you settled for..... The job offer comes with pretty good compensation, around previous yr's average post MBA salary....

You don't know whether you can land a better job with certainty. You might not even want to deal with the anxiety that comes with the Fall recruiting season.

Do you:

1) Accept the job offer without thinking further

or

2) Decline the offer and take your chances in the Fall recruiting season

What will you do?

P.S. - I am not predicting future job market or MBA recruiting for bschool students. Based on the scenario described above, what will you do and why?

refurb · Answer

Considering a lot of those post-internship job offers included enough $$$ to pay your second years tuition, I have only one thing to say...

where do I sign????

Also, I'm not sure exactly how these post-internship offers work. Are they binding?

RF

BearStearner · Answer

I disagree.

We all invest a lot of money into this. We have to shoot for our dream jobs if we can.

So unless that internship was my dream internship, I will say no to their offer and take my chance with other 2nd years.

refurb · Answer

Your not playing by the RULES!!! :beat

"Forget whether this job is exactly what you are looking for from the very start or it is just an opportunity that you settled for....." RF

falibay · Answer

If you can move to what you want in 1-2 years from that position. I would take it and start getting ready to get my next job

refurb · Answer

I think your point is really important. Just because you accept a job from the company you did you internship with doesn't mean you have to work for the company for the rest of your life. It might not be your top location or company, but if the work experience/job responsibilities and compensation are top notch, it can be a smart long-term move. I can also agree with BearSterner's comment about not settling. If you want your dream job, you'll eventually have to take a chance. Since a lot of us will be over 30 by the time we finish our MBAs (and some of us over 35 :oops:

), you don't always have the time you did when you were younger for "long-term" moves. I think as long as you factor in everything that matters to you, the decision will be quite obvious. RF

nink · Answer

How often do you think a typical top MBA grad changes job after bschool?

Would you say in general, people try few different jobs (2 or 3) and stick with that job and make a career out of it or would you say that in general, people will switch jobs multiple jobs over their career? (4 to 10 times even?)

Remember, our generation is very fickle - completely different than previous generations....

cul3s · Answer

I'd have to agree with RF and sign for the sure thing. 
Stress free 2nd year too (you can participate in whatever activities and not freak out about future job or grades).. probably the only time you'd be stress free ever again. You can now truly enjoy the experience..no pressure.

Yea how do these post intern offers work typically? is it offered right after the summer...and thus require us to respond before recruiting time? 
So if we did our intern at top companies and didn't get an offer...would other companies look at us as if there must be something bad about this candidate?

And finally...I would say that people in general will switch jobs and/or functions. Maybe not up to 4 -10 different functions..but I'm pretty sure at some point they'll try at least 1 different function. The ones that stick to their career would be the one that keep themselves fresh by probably switching companies periodically. *just my prediction...

3underscore · Answer

Erm... not meaning to destroy the thread, but... I would tell them that as they are aware, they have a policy with the schools that means the offer needs to stay open for at least about two months from that point. They are welcome to fade the financial incentive package, but they know the rules.

For background this year, I had some irons on the heat. As the economy fell apart, I signed pretty quickly (with a week to go on my bonuses) because I knew there was no jobs out there in what I was doing.

If a wonder job came along, I could always back out. It would be incredibly messy, no doubt, but is possible. That considered it really makes sense to sign. As best I know, anyone at school who had offers at the end of the summer had signed an offer by its deadline (it may have been elsewhere, but still).

Letting offers lapse is quite rare. Using it as leverage isn't. Typically, if you don't really want the job or like the field, you won't get an offer (at least not any more). Ten weeks is an easy amount of time to work out who is really in to the work, and that is what they are looking for.

nink · Answer

Let's say you hold onto the offer for 2 months. Is 2 months (from beginning of Fall semester) reasonable time for one to seriously shop around for job interviews and possibly offers?

Exactly how messy is it? My former colleague backed out of an offer for a better offer and the school's Career Office intervened and tried to get him to accept the original offer.....something about integrity and protecting school's relationship/reputation with employers...

riverripper · Answer

Unless your internship is your dream job there is no harm in waiting. 2nd year recruiting is in the fall and most offers from internships give you plenty of time to decide. So you most likely will know how you stand on fulltime recruiting before you have to accept your offer.

As for backing out of an accepted offer for something better its strongly frowned on but they cant force you to take it. Basically at Kellogg, they remove your rights as an alum to use the career services stuff. However, if the offer is too good to be true it very well might make sense to take the offer and suffer the consequences. Not sure how it works at other schools but I would assume it would be similar.

nink · Answer

Thanks river

+1

3underscore · Answer

Exactly as River says - they will disown you, pretty much. And certainly pressure you on the damage to future recruitment.

For finding jobs, given that you are in demand, 2 months is perfectly long enough to work out what is going on and push things through, at least in the major recruitment industries. I know people who have done it for consultancy this year, and banking and S&T in the past (even this year, in fact). Hedge Funds, PE, VC... you'll be pushing your luck,  but  you have the major endorsement that someone wants you. There is nothing like someone that a competitor wants.

See how many people hit on you when you are happy in a relationship relative to when you are single? That is what it is like as an MBA with a job offer. You can rapidly scope the environment. This year, in trader parlance, there was  nothing there . I think some signed instantly, but a fair few of us held off to see what was about and reach out to just see what was going on. On sniffing around a bit, there was the very noticeable scent that once you have caught wind of it once, you will never forget it. Death.

(this is from a S&T perspective)

togafoot · Answer

You can always negotiate

. 70% of job offers are negotiable in the USA.

falibay · Answer

Kellogg revokes your alum access to recruiting if you renegate on an offer? Ouch, that's pretty drastic; I understand that it is not very ethical but firm have the option to rescinde the offers as well. I am sure that will be more common this year...

riverripper · Answer

Falibay, thats a pretty common punishment. Every school is going to do something to you so that you arent tempted to do it the second something mildly better comes along.

falibay · Answer

I do understand the rational behind it but that's something that happens all the time in the workplace and it does not reflect so badly on the school. It is an individual decision. Though I understand, I just don't like the fact that companies have the option and we don't ...

togafoot · Answer

It does refelect badly on the school, because you are a representative of the school. We had one case happen a few years ago. The recruiter refuses to come back to the school. That's the impact it can have. Once you;ve attended ths chool, it's on your resume for life, so the image of the school will follow you.

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