Why should we hire you over the others waiting to be interviewed?

Urgent! What to do if you have an internship offer but are waiting to hear back on others?

• I interviewed at an agency last Thursday and they offered me the position on the spot. I told them I had another interview this Thursday (today) and they said it was fine, to let them know later. Today I went to my other interview and the interviewer said she would email me back early next week but she seemed unsure of their hiring process. The agency that offered me a position has emailed me asking me what the status of my decision is because they need to know if they need to interview any more people. What should I do? I think it's risky to ask for another extension until next week!

• Answer:

  There's an old saying in English about a bird in the hand being worth two in the bush. If the first of the internship offers was a reasonable one, accept the position and forget about whatever else might happen. An internship is not a "life sentence," so you will eventually be moving on to other things. If one of the "other" positions you applied for gets offered to you at a later point, you will have to say "I have accepted another position, but thanks for the offer." You need to learn to say this without looking back, without second guessing, and without feeling any disappointment. Bear in mind how you will feel if you turn down the opportunity which has been offered, only to find that nothing else comes your way, the search for a different internship drags on and on, and you end up not getting one at all.