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I interned at Company A this past summer and it went great. I learned a lot and liked their hard working but laid back culture quite a bit. In the interview process for the internship they talked about how they wanted interns to come back and work full time for many years.

I applied at Company B after my internship ended honestly thinking that Company A would be my easy 1st choice for a full time job. Company B changed my mind during the interview process though. Company B is a larger company that develops using varying and much newer technology and small teams. I fee like this could be extremely helpful for my career long term. They also appear to have a laid back vibe, but of course I have no idea for sure. They gave me a better offer than Company A, with a slightly higher salary, yearly bonus, and great benefits.

I have decided to go with Company B, but am I burning bridges with Company A because I interned but declined a full time job? I definitely want to stay friendly with them incase I ever want to work there again. (Especially if things don't work out with Company B) I will get back to Company A quickly declining so they have more time to fill the position, but I can't help but feel like any chance of me working there ever again is over.

user60257
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No, you should not feel bad, and you are not burning any bridges.

Company A will be just fine. Just decline it graciously. They don't hire every intern, and not every intern accepts an offer. You are not "betrothed" to them.

Wesley Long
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  • Thanks for the reply, I wasn't sure if it is expected by companies for their interns to always return. It seems like a large portion of interns due return to software companies so I wasn't sure. – user60257 Nov 16 '16 at 02:32
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    Re: "you are not burning any bridges" - So long as you don't do anything stupid when rejecting the offer. Don't try to justify why you chose company B. Just tell company A that you appreciate the internship, you learned a lot and the folks that you worked with were very helpful. Very few folks work for a company their whole lives anymore. You may work for company B in the future or with some of the now company B employees at a different company in the future. So always try to maintain network connections. – MaxW Nov 16 '16 at 06:51
  • ^ very important note. – Jonast92 Nov 16 '16 at 13:02