Because of the nature of internship recruiting, summer positions often have very short-term exploding offers. At both the Wharton School of Business and at Harvard, where first-year MBA students interview for summer positions in a single weekend, some firms cram in their final rounds before competing firms can have theirs, then give offers designed to explode before their competitors' final round takes place. The MBA was to undergo another bank's final round on Monday. It was clearly a competitive action. We tell students to approach the firm and say 'I'm not able to make the best decision right now,' and ask for some more time to decide.
Most firms are very understanding.
Pat Riegg, an undergraduate career counselor at the University of California at Berkeley, says exploding offers often backfire because students suspect there's something wrong with the company. Ms. Yamashita agrees, adding that students shouldn't worry. I tell them we are in a hot market and they have a lot of skills. Don't panic, negotiate. If they're inflexible, you probably don't want to be there.