Q: If you receive an internship offer, how do you tell them you’re interested, provided you don’t receive one from papers above it on your list?
Tim B., Washington
A: The first thing not to tell them is that they’re in the middle of the list. Enthusiastically thank them for the offer. Then graciously ask for some time to decide. A week is reasonable, but about all you should reasonably expect. Taking longer than that could cost the newspaper its opportunity to call other good people. If the paper squeezes you to make an overnight or over-the-weekend decision, depriving you of an opportunity to weigh your options, I’d wonder about how they deal with people.
In your waiting time, get on the phone to your higher-ranking newspapers, explain that you have an offer on the table that you’ll soon accept — unless they have something for you. You’ll have to weigh whether you’ll turn down a sure thing for a good possibility.
A fine line to walk is that between weighing options and appearing to play one newspaper against another. If you appear to be using one offer to wring an offer or more money out of another place, you’ll leave people with a sour taste in their mouth. Simply explain your situation to the other newspapers, ask where they are in the selection process and where you are in the pool. You do not need to say where your first offer came from. In fact, doing so could help word get back to the paper that you’re trying to land somewhere else. Politely say, "I have an offer I’m willing to accept, but I’d rather come to your paper. I don’t want to say what that other paper is, because we’re in negotiations."
Whatever you do, do not accept a job and later change your mind. Keep your commitments. How would you feel if the newspaper broke the agreement after a few weeks or months? Trust is an important commodity in this business, and word of people who break commitments quickly spreads among recruiters and editors. It’s not the type of reputation you want.