Many college students are juggling multiple summer internship offers as companies try to lock in entry-level talent. So fierce is this year’s competition, recruiters and career advisers said, that some students are reneging on summer stints they accepted back in the fall as recruiters barrage them with interview requests and richer offers.
The company also encourages accepted interns to post a company logo on social media to announce the new position. Incoming intern José Eduardo Reyes said he did so on LinkedIn and received a flurry of messages from other employers trying to poach him. He told them no, citing his happiness with the offer’s starting salary and the company’s culture.
Students used to feel sheepish about backing out of offers, but Elizabeth Diley, campus talent acquisition leader at General Mills, said she has observed less remorse. The cereal and food maker usually hires about 150 interns each year; now it plans to over-hire, betting that some percentage of interns will renege on offers before their summer jobs start, she said.
Reneging on offers can have consequences at some universities. Campus career offices, wary of damaging relationships with employers, consider such moves a breach of professional norms. Abby Scott, assistant dean for M.B.A. career management and corporate partnerships at the Haas School, said most years fewer than 10 students raise the possibility of reneging on an internship with her office. The first step in determining a sanction, she said, is to understand the student’s motivations. For example, a student might have a new family obligation that requires a different role.