Director of Employer Relations
GGU students have access to a wealth of opportunities when it comes to different externships during law school. All these possibilities are a blessing, but occasionally they lead to complicated decisions. Students will sometimes accept an offer with one employer, then find out about another employer that they think is even “better.”
Unless the situation involves two part-time openings, it is a violation of the rules of student conduct to interview with another employer when you have already accepted an offer for the same time period. Here is the relevant language from Chapter 8 of the Student Handbook:
Students should consider the acceptance of an to be a binding obligaoffer tion. Students should not accept offers of employment if they do not intend to honor that commitment. Once a student accepts an offer of employment, he or she must immediately contact all other employers who are evaluating his or her candidacy and withdraw from consideration. All students should contact the Law Career Services Office to report their job acceptance.
A student should not continue to interview or "shop around" for competing opportunities that would conflict with the commitment he or she has made to his or her employer. Doing so could damage the student’s reputation as well as that of the School of Law.Here are a couple tips to make these sorts of situations less difficult:
- If an employer makes you an offer and you have some pending applications out there, you don’t have to accept on the spot if it isn’t your first choice. Express enthusiasm and ask when the employer needs a response. Assuming you have a little time, you might even contact your employer of choice, explain the situation, tell them they’re your first choice, and inquire about their timing. If done right, this will impress the second employer without putting them off. We can help you frame this communication.
- If you have to turn down an offer from an employer you really want to work for, try leveraging their current interest into a future opportunity. “That’s great! I’m so excited that you’re interested in me for the fall, but I just accepted an offer with another employer. Would it be possible to work with you in the spring though?”
