Between a rock and a hard place
Tyler Shepfer
Senior Lecturer | Director, Honors Cohort | Academic Director, Master of HR Management Program | Ohio State | Stanford
For those who do not know me, my name is Ty Shepfer, and I am a senior lecturer in management and human resources and the director of the Honors Cohort Program at Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business.
I would like to hear from you about a situation many of our Honors Cohort students encounter.
Imagine you are in your late teens or early 20s and a rising business student. You are working very hard on your studies, extra-curricular involvements and part-time job, and have diligently networked with industry professionals and attended company leadership conferences. These experiences will hopefully lead to that desired interview and internship offer. Sound familiar? This is the case for most juniors in the Honors Cohort Program and countless other undergraduates at Ohio State and around the country.
Then the call that you have been waiting for comes: “We are excited to offer you an internship for this coming summer. You should be very proud of yourself, as it was a competitive process and you ultimately rose to the top.”
You breathe a sigh of relief as the recruiter shares additional information about the role and then breaks the bittersweet news: you have two weeks to decide. In your mind you are saying: “it’s only August. School has barely even started yet. Fisher’s Fall Career Fair has not even taken place yet. I am hoping to interview at several other companies who have also expressed interest in me. Two weeks does not give me enough time!”
Obviously, this is a first-world problem and one that many students would welcome with open arms. However, it is a problem that many of our students face and the cards are stacked against them. The recruitment process has become a chess match where the students are playing with pawns and the corporations with kings, queens, bishops, and knights. Oftentimes when students ask for an extension until November 1 (per Fisher’s guidelines), the company says it cannot accommodate the request because there are several other candidates it is considering.
What do you do?
1. Do you accept the offer and stop pursuing what could be better opportunities at more desirable firms?
2. Do you decline the offer, continue pursuing other options and risk missing out on an internship?
3. Or do you accept the role, continue pursuing other options and face potential questions about your personal integrity and commitment to an organization?
An increasing number of students find themselves between this “rock and a hard place.” Many of these students, who having little to no experience in this area, ask me for advice.
I empathize with them. They know very little about the multitude of options that exist. If they accept the offer, they may forego the opportunity to explore alternate career paths, industries and organizations.
That is why I would love to hear from you. How would you advise the student to act?
Please reach out to me at [email protected] or post below to let me know. I look forward to hearing from you and for your help!
Wine Taster / Grape Grower
4 年I’m thinking Fisher could get out ahead of this one by adding an April event to discuss the possibilities of summer/early Fall internship applications and deadlines, and their implications. Inform the kids of these possible dilemmas and offer advice and alternatives at that time. Then, when this situation arises, the kids have had time to think about it and plan for it, with input ahead of time by you and your team.
Change Management | Business Analysis | Project Management | Org. Development - Get focused, get on track, get profitable
4 年I would use it as an opportunity to both practice risk management and take a longer view of life, realizing there’s no such thing as the “perfect path.” Rather, success is about making the best, balanced decision based on the information at hand, which almost always is incomplete (a Bayesian risk management decision). Developing this skill is what leadership is about, not trying to make perfect decisions. Life is messy! So, if they decide based on the belief they’ll keep on making decisions based on the outcome they will be advancing their leadership skills. Trying to make a perfect decision is the kiss of death. Life is a free-fall, that’s the secret leaders understand. #thechangemanager
Industrial and Systems Engineer
5 年As a recent graduate who went through this exact situation, here's my 2c: If this is your FIRST internship I would recommend taking it. Maybe ask for an extension but I wouldn’t push for too much of an extension (I’d go maybe 2 weeks longer than what they give you but that’s me).? Reasoning: You would much rather have the valuable experience that comes with an internship than not and you run the risk of not having an internship if you take too much time deciding.? You have a guarantee of some real-world, useful experience on the table: take advantage of it! Now, if this is your SECOND or THIRD or etc. internship, you can afford to be a little more selective because you have some experience already under your belt. ? I think an attitude of gratitude is ideal for looking for first internships.
I was in a situation similar to this in 2017. I had been recruited through on campus interviews with JPMorgan Chase for an internship in my junior year. Following the internship I?was offered a full time placement but with only a few weeks to decide.?Luckily I was fortunate enough where when asked to extend my decision date to the Fisher Guidelines (November 1st) they accepted. It was great that Fisher put in place?guidelines like these to allow me adequate time to?compare options. This led to a?mutually beneficial situation for both me (satisfied with my choice when comparing options),?my employer?(no last minute dropouts due to being forced to decide), and Fisher (company views Fisher students with high integrity). I believe the university needs to defend the students opportunities and properly enforce the guidelines they have set with employers. If the employer?would?like to continue to use university resources and recruit top talent they should follow career services?guidelines just as the students have to. In most cases the new graduates have limited bargaining power with prospective employers, it helps to have the strength of the institution?to protect the?students.??