University Chic

Tamara Kissane
July 8, 2005 - 5:30pm.
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**Dear Tamara,** **My internship is coming to an end, how do I say good bye to everyone in the company? Do I send a card? How often should I keep in touch with them?** Your instincts are correct it is important to say goodbye in a meaningful way rather than simply disappearing on your last day. The way you say goodbye depends on your relationships with your co-workers and supervisor, the company culture, and your own feelings about your internship experience. If your internship was positive, then inviting your supervisor out to lunch or coffee would be appropriate, and it would leave him or her with the impression that you are a budding professional. In addition to the lunch or coffee, you should send a thank you note to your supervisor after you leave. Regarding your co-workers, you could give cards before you leave to thank them for the time and energy they spent with you. You could also send thank you cards after your end-date; however, you should thank your officemates personally before you leave. Then the cards that come in the mail later will be like icing on the cake. Again, depending on the culture in the office and your relationships with the people there, you could bring in (or send later) a parting gift like candy, flowers, coffee, etc. If you have a disposable camera, take some photos of your co-workers and send those later in the card. In the end, you want to convey that you have learned a lot and had a special experience there during the summer. You should also follow-up and stay in touch with these folks after you leave. A periodic email to let them know how you are doing is great. It does not need to be long. Just write to check-in and let them know what you are doing. It is particularly important to stay in touch if you plan to use your supervisor for a reference, if you would like to get an internship or permanent job there the following summer, or if you plan to work in that industry area. It will be easier for you to ask these people for advice and direction if you build a relationship with them over time. **Dear Tamara,** **I received a full time offer at the end of my internship but I want to participate in full time recruitment. How do I let them know this without having them think that I am planning on disregarding their company?** Tricky. If you are not the first intern in that office, then you can assume that your supervisor has dealt with this situation before. As a result, it is unlikely he or she will be surprised by your decision to explore all of your options. It is essential that you convey to your supervisor that you are thrilled and flattered to have received an offer, and that you are strongly considering it. If you are a senior at an undergraduate college, you can say that you are approaching your job search seriously and carefully since it is your first job after college. In order to do so, you feel that it is important to go through the recruiting program offered by the Career Planning Center at your school. In the end, you owe it to yourself and your future employer to feel confident about the choice you make. Ask your supervisor for a deadline to respond and then keep in touch with him or her. If you decide to take another position, let your supervisor know as soon as possible and follow up with thank-you notes. After all, if it were not for that summer internship, you might not have gotten the other job. If you decide to take the position that your summer employer has offered, do not wait until the deadline to respond. If the deadline is approaching and you are not ready to make a decision, go to the Career Planning Center at your school and speak with a career advisor. He or she will help you through the twists and turns of that conversation. **Dear Tamara,** **I did not receive a full time offer at the end of my internship. During my full time position interviews, what's the best way to answer the question, "So why didn't they extend an offer to you?"** Wow. I have not heard of many interviewers asking that question it is pretty rude. They could be asking that question to size up their competition ,to see if you get flustered, or to probe deeper into your internship experience. Maybe they sense that you hated your internship or that you really did not do a good job. If either is true, then that is a trickier question to sidestep and a longer answer is required than I can type out right now. In that case, I advise you to go to your Career Planning Center and speak with a career advisor. There are ways to address those issues delicately and still have a strong interview. If your internship employer does not have a set number of openings every year, the easiest answer to this question is to explain that the employer is waiting to see about their hiring needs for the summer or post-graduation. You could also say that your summer employer knew that you decided to get experience with another employer in the field and, as a result, did not extend an offer.

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