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I accepted a summer gig at a Legal Aid Society just over a week ago because I was getting desperate. I applied to nearly fifty internships, most of them before mid-January, and hadn’t heard back beyond a couple of interviews that didn’t lead to offers. And because I assumed I would’ve heard back by now if any of them were still considering me, I didn’t bother emailing out retractions to all fifty employers. Anyway, this afternoon I got a call from the US Attorney’s Office in the same city as that Legal Aid job, and after a brief conversation that I honestly didn’t realize was an interview (maybe that’s a hint as to how I should handle interviews), they offered me a summer position.

I would much prefer to work for the USAO, in comparison to the Legal Aid Society, for a handful of reasons, none of which lend themselves to sympathy—it’s more prestigious, I care more about criminal prosecution and especially government civil litigation than I do about unemployment aid, and the Legal Aid Society gig also requires me to participate in a research fellowship that will cut into the research time I would rather give to the Professor for whom I am an RA.

The biggest obstacles to my reneging are 1) I’d rather not hurt the Legal Aid Society. They do good work, I’m just not that interested in doing it for a summer, and 2) I’m mildly worried for my reputation since the two internships are in the same city. I don’t think I’ll end up in that city long-term, but I must admit to a chance of it.

FWIW I'm DCNG, top 5 or 10%, interested in academia, big govt., or national-level PI if I can swing it.

Just renege politely. There are plenty of warm bodies for your spot.

Thanks for the advice. I'm leaning that way. The only problem is that my position was created specifically to take advantage of a fellowship offered by my school, so there aren't really "plenty" of warm bodies to fill my spot. That said, they will still have their normal 12 interns, and there's a chance they'll get someone else from my school.

Edit, random side note: Anyone who's summered with a USAO know if they do hair drug tests? Abstaining from now until the end of the internship is no hardship.

Anonymous User wrote:Thanks for the advice. I'm leaning that way. The only problem is that my position was created specifically to take advantage of a fellowship offered by my school, so there aren't really "plenty" of warm bodies to fill my spot. That said, they will still have their normal 12 interns, and there's a chance they'll get someone else from my school.

Edit, random side note: Anyone who's summered with a USAO know if they do hair drug tests? Abstaining from now until the end of the internship is no hardship, since I use barely once a month on average, but I'm wondering if I should bother to cut my hair shorter just in case. Also, debating what to say on the clearance form, though I suppose just admitting to very occasional marijuana use is better than getting caught lying.

No drug test

tbf, there are really no prestigious 1L summer jobs, so you should nix that from your considerations

however, if the relevance of experience is worth it to you, then you should renege (politely); ONLY consider relevance of experience and not "prestige" in this situation

.

Similar situation happened to me, but I did not end up backing out of the first offer because I was recommended for it and didn't want to muck that relationship up (however, if it were say unpaid v. paid like a SA position I would have backed out and dealt with everything later). Anyway, yeah it's a shitty situation, but I agree with the posts above that you should politely get out, unless there is a compelling reason otherwise.

Good luck with it!

Mentally_AFK wrote:

juzam_djinn wrote:tbf, there are really no prestigious 1L summer jobs, so you should nix that from your considerations

however, if the relevance of experience is worth it to you, then you should renege (politely); ONLY consider relevance of experience and not "prestige" in this situation

Sorry, that was intended as tongue and cheek. Prestige factors into it not at all. My main concern is that I'm more interested in the work the USAO does.

understood and no worries; I think the consensus is strong, politely back out, and if you're tactful and quick about it there shouldn't be any lasting repercussions or burned bridges

Make sure you check with your CSO before you do it. If you renege at my T14 they can ban you from OCI. I was considering reneging as well, and was a huge thing I considered.

Anonymous User wrote:Make sure you check with your CSO before you do it. If you renege at my T14 they can ban you from OCI. I was considering reneging as well, and was a huge thing I considered.

They'll ban you from OCI for reneging on an unpaid 1L summer internship in PI? That's insane.

Reneg and say you realized that you actually don't care about the poor.

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Anonymous User wrote:Thanks for the advice. I'm leaning that way. The only problem is that my position was created specifically to take advantage of a fellowship offered by my school, so there aren't really "plenty" of warm bodies to fill my spot. That said, they will still have their normal 12 interns, and there's a chance they'll get someone else from my school.

Edit, random side note: Anyone who's summered with a USAO know if they do hair drug tests? Abstaining from now until the end of the internship is no hardship, since I use barely once a month on average, but I'm wondering if I should bother to cut my hair shorter just in case. Also, debating what to say on the clearance form, though I suppose just admitting to very occasional marijuana use is better than getting caught lying.

From the research I have done, it seems this would disqualify you from the USAO (i.e. admitting to recent marijuna use), so this may be something to consider. I am not advocating lying -- quite the opposite actually as that would be a terrible idea for anyone and particularly someone with your long-term career interests -- but before reneging on your other gig, it is worth looking into whether this would get disqualified.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Thanks for the advice. I'm leaning that way. The only problem is that my position was created specifically to take advantage of a fellowship offered by my school, so there aren't really "plenty" of warm bodies to fill my spot. That said, they will still have their normal 12 interns, and there's a chance they'll get someone else from my school.

Edit, random side note: Anyone who's summered with a USAO know if they do hair drug tests? Abstaining from now until the end of the internship is no hardship, since I use barely once a month on average, but I'm wondering if I should bother to cut my hair shorter just in case. Also, debating what to say on the clearance form, though I suppose just admitting to very occasional marijuana use is better than getting caught lying.

From the research I have done, it seems this would disqualify you from the USAO (i.e. admitting to recent marijuna use), so this may be something to consider. I am not advocating lying -- quite the opposite actually as that would be a terrible idea for anyone and particularly someone with your long-term career interests -- but before reneging on your other gig, it is worth looking into whether this would get disqualified.

Kind of. Using any illegal substance within one year of applying for a security clearance is an automatic disqualification. However, admitting to past use will not harm you, unless you've shown a history of substance abuse (as in, not the occasional toke once a month).

OP, do you know if you require a security clearance for the summer gig? Generally they can take months to obtain, so I can't imagine they require it for someone that's only gonna be there for 10-12 weeks.

Okay, so, my CSO said that if anyone asked, they "told me not to burn bridges," but that between us reneging would be better for my career goals. So that's that.

As for the background check, yes I will have to do an abbreviated one.

Danger Zone wrote:OP, do you know if you require a security clearance for the summer gig? Generally they can take months to obtain, so I can't imagine they require it for someone that's only gonna be there for 10-12 weeks.

My understanding is that they do a kind of abbreviated check - you have to fill out the background check forms, but as long as you present a prima facie case of "this person would pass," you're okay. I'm sure they check some of what you provide, but, for instance, they don't actually go around interviewing all your references and past bosses and contacts and so on, the way they do for a permanent job. So it takes a while, but more like 8 weeks than months?

Yeah they only go around interviewing people if you're applying for a Top Secret or if your file has a lot of red flags. If you have to fill out the paperwork, one of the questions will certainly be about recent drug use. So... consider whether you want to answer that.

I reneged on a PI 1L internship to take one w/ the state. Didn't lead to any problems.