Q. I currently have a paid internship at a 600,000-listener public radio station that ends the last week of May. It's great experience and I'm starting to do reporting for the station, too. I have the option of renewing for another two months.
However, I lose my health insurance when I graduate from college in June and am anxious about being uninsured. Also, I have applications out to several full-time jobs at news organizations and nonprofits, one of which I've been through an interview for and the interviewer told me I did very well. I'm waiting to hear back to see if I get a second-round interview.
I'm worried about what will happen if I extend my internship for two months then get offered a full-time job that would want me to start immediately. I feel like it would be stupid of me to turn down a "real" full-time job in this economy, but I wouldn't want to back out on my intern employers either.
Then again, if I don't get a job, the internship would provide clips and income for another two months while I keep looking. My parents think I should renew the internship because any employer who shows interest now would probably take a couple of months to go through the whole interview and decision-making process, and they usually give you some leeway to decide a start date.
Also, my parents say, even if a job demands that I start immediately, my intern employer would "understand" if I had to quit because he or she would know how tough it is out there. My two months would overlap with a new intern, so the employer wouldn't be left out to dry completely.
I just don't want to risk burning bridges and not getting references; it's been pounded into me that you do NOT back out of a job you commit to, even if you get offered something better. But still ... health insurance!
I have to decide by the end of this week and don't know what to do. What are your thoughts? Thank you.
Katie
A. I am with your parents. They have covered every point.
Absolutely, you should keep your commitments. Turning down a two-month extension in this economy with the thought that you need to be available for a job offer is being optimistic, though.
I hope you do get a job soon and I think that decent employers who think highly of you would be happy to release you from your remaining time to move into a good job. The length of this extension is pretty short, so there is a good chance you could negotiate transition dates that will be good for everyone all the way around.
Coming Thursday: Her best references are old, and she is afraid to use her current bosses and sources. What should she do?
