Hello everyone, I got an offer from BCG today for an internship next year which I was planning to do in June/July. Although, they are asking me to terminate my internship with Bain & Company which is scheduled for Q1 2022 due to some confidentiality issues. I don't plan to act in bad faith and terminate my internship with Bain. Is there some possible way to do both internships?
Really appreciate any advice on this matter.
Hello!
First of all, congratulations! Two MBB offers is something for sure to be celebrated.
Now that they both want you, you have more negotiating power than what you think. Hence, I am convinced there is a way to do both.
If BCG is who is posing issues, you can try to swap the order and do BCG in Q1, and then Bain later. If not, you can tell negotiate to only have a few weeks in the middle of the two of them (which also will be great for you to rest).
In any case, you don´t need more than 2-3 months each in oder to:
- Get to know them and see whether you want to return full time
- Have enough exposure to get a return offer
Hope it helps!
Cheers,
Clara
Hi there,
Congratulations on the offers!
I would definitely try to negotiate to do both internships – it is better for you in order to make an educated decision. You can explain that you have already signed and feel you have to keep your word, as mentioned by Ian, and if they insist, offer to sign an ad-hoc NDA to show you are serious about keeping confidentiality.
Best,
Francesco
Hi there,
If I were you I would try to pick up the phone and talk to them.
I'm a bit confused how BCG, who you would intern for after Bain wants you to terminate the Bain contract. I recommend you flag to them that you signed first with Bain and you feel that reneging on your promise would be acting in bad faith. Flag to them that BCG is after Bain, and people switch companies all the time - you are a professional and will be bound by your confidentiality clauses.
May as well try!
Hello Ian, thanks for your advice. I have tried telling all these things and everyone from this particular BCG office are telling me that they cannot provide me an internship if I don't leave Bain saying that I cannot work for a direct competition (which I thought is true, but only for full time). They have arranged a final call between me and the MD of this office. I would be really grateful if you could share some pointers that I could pitch during my discussion tomorrow with the MD, given you've worked with BCG and know a lot more than I do.
You have to call them and understand what's the real issue. Since you are joining BCG later (and not the other way around), I don't see howcome the intership you do BEFORE BCG put's their client information at risk.
In any case, you have the upper hand here - as you already signed with Bain, it is actually BCG the one who has to be flexible if they want you to do an internship with them.
Of course, after you understand the real issue (if there is one at all), you can reach out to Bain to see if they can move your internship to a date where it would cause problems.
But all in all, if I had to reject one of the offers, I would always chose to work for the company who is not creating any problems, as it is an indicator of a more respectful culture.
Having said this, I think there has to be some misunderstanding there, so reach out to them and try to understand the real issue.
It is possible that this is borne out of some admin-issue from BCG's end. The best strategy would be to speak to both HR's "over phone" and "directly". Try to understand exact issue with BCG, tell them that you have already signed the offer, try to see how you doing internship with BCG after the internship with Bain will create issues (it should be the other way around). Try to explore options around changing the order or timing of the internships. Once you have done all clarifications from BCG's end, and if you need to change things with Bain, then discuss it out with Bain HR. I suggest no need to pique their antennae until you get all clarifications/negotiations done with BCG.
