<p>In the fall, my son was fortunate to be approached by two companies regarding summer 2010 internship opportunities. One opportunity had been casually discussed for several years and the other came out of the blue. Both are in the same field and the interested parties know each other even though they might not be aware that they both extended offers to the same prospective intern. </p>
<p>My son declined the out-of-the-blue offer within a couple of weeks, and had a handshake deal on the other, pending summer scheduling issues having mostly to do with college start dates and sports training should he continue with his sport in college. (He is not.) The details have since been ironed out and last week the internship dates were set, flights booked, etc. </p>
<p>The internship he accepted will last 5 weeks. At least one week will be spent at an industry convention in which both companies are high profile, and during which my son will certainly interact with the individual and and other employees of the company whose offer he declined.</p>
<p>I feel that as a courtesy, my son should email the guy at the company he declined and let them know that he accepted another internship in the field. Even if the fellow has already heard it through the grapevine, I feel it is the right thing to do especially since it is a small industry. My son may someday wish to work there. Any advice?</p>
<p>Networking is key…keep the door open by communicating with the “out of the blue” firm. This will eliminate an uncomfortable personae when the convention rolls around. My 2 cents…</p>
<p>One more detail. My son is an acquaintance of several years with the man whose offer he declined. This man was also my instructor at a one-week seminar that I attended several years ago, so I know him too. Should I also email him to thank him for the opportunity, or should I just stay out of it?</p>
<p>I would definitely not interfere in your son’s internship connections. He should definitely e-mail the person to explain that he took another internship to keep the door open, but at this point any and all communication should come from him.</p>
<p>I am not convinced he should e-mail and explain about his other internship if he already turned the offer down. Doesn’t seem to me that the other person will be offended if he turned it down gracefully to start with if he runs into your S at the convention (unless your S gave some reason for declining that makes it odd for him to have accepted the other offer…).</p>
<p>He should certainly greet the out-of-the-blue guy cordially if he sees them, and have an answer ready if he is asked, “What are you doing here?”, or “Why company X instead of Y?”. Just stating that his internship arrangement had been in the works for some time before the out-of-the-blue offer came up is a perfectly adequate explanation should he need to use it.</p>
<p>I would think it was kind of odd to get an e-mail from someone (even someone I knew) telling me what internship they DID accept after they had turned my offer down.</p>