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Over the last weeks, I have applied for internships in various companies. A few days ago, Company A got back to me with an offer I like, which I accepted.

I had 2 interviews scheduled with Company B and C for next week, which I both cancelled by informing them I have accepted another offer in the meantime.

However, my question is: what do I do with companies D, E and F, which I have applied to, but which have not yet responded to my applications at all? These are not companies that have ghosted me, but it has simply been quite little time since I have applied and there are high chances I will hear from them in the next few days. Should I email them now saying I accepted another offer? Should I wait until they send me an email and, if they invite me for an interview, tell them I accepted another offer? Since they are companies I have interest in, I might want to work with them in the future and want to find the best way to keep doors open.

Thank you in advance.

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    as the question is already answered nicely. I would have recommended you to go through the interviews with company B and C. Since they were already setup, it would have given you some extra interviewing experience which is never a bad thing. and you would have gotten a closer look at those 2 other companies. By picking the first company, without hearing what the others have to offer, you might miss an even better oportunity. Wish you a lot of fun on your internship and consider not accepting the very first job offer you get later on.
    – SwissCoder
    Commented Jul 15, 2019 at 13:59
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    @SwissCoder As a hiring manager that would annoy me. I don't think it is good advice to recommend to knowingly waste someone else's time.
    – onnoweb
    Commented Jul 15, 2019 at 18:55
  • Related: Attending interviews “to stay sharp”, if you reject an offer, and then apply again later - wouldn't this harm your chances of being hired?
    – Stephan Kolassa
    Commented Jul 16, 2019 at 7:55
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    @onnoweb how is this wasting your time? I recommended the candidate to look at more than 1 company before making a decision, instead of just picking the first offer. (of course once he accepted an offer already, its a different story) To clarify my missleading sentence from above: I would have recommended you to go through the interviews with company B and C before accepting an offer.
    – SwissCoder
    Commented Jul 16, 2019 at 8:39
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    @SwissCoder "before accepting an offer", yes that's fine. I read your comment as recommending to still interview with another company after already having accepting an offer. That, as the hiring manager at that second company, would not make me happy.
    – onnoweb
    Commented Jul 16, 2019 at 12:39

5 Answers 5

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Should I email them now saying I accepted another offer?

Since they are companies I have interest in, I might want to work with them in the future and want to find the best way to keep doors open.

Yes!

That is the most professional thing to do. You'll leave a good impression that may help you somewhere down the road.

It takes just a few seconds and there is absolutely no downside at all.

Even if they go low, you go high.

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    This is the correct answer. It is never a mistake to be as professional as possible in the business world, even when the companies and people around you are not.
    – Niko1978
    Commented Jul 15, 2019 at 6:08
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    This should be applied more often in life: "Even if they go low, you go high."
    – Martijn
    Commented Jul 15, 2019 at 9:01
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    This past summer, I applied to upwards of 50 internships, and got replies from less than 10 of them. Would you still recommend that when I got my job, I should tell the other 40 companies who ghosted me that I got a job? To me it feels like a waste of both my time and the time of 40 different recruiters.
    – Stephen S
    Commented Jul 15, 2019 at 10:27
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    @Emobe - "every single job you apply for is a burnt bridge" - No, not the application for a job; rather the unsolicited email terminating the process. Effectively the candidate says to the runner up companies, "I've selected a better company. Sorry about your luck". I claim it is better to say nothing in this case. (If a runner-up tries to move forward, then by all means tell them you are no longer available. But don't send an unsolicited email telling them they were not the best choice).
    – user25792
    Commented Jul 15, 2019 at 16:12
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    I suspect you guys are all assuming the companies care about this more than they really do. Decent-sized companies probably receive hundreds of internship applications, I doubt they remember anything about the candidates they didn't accept.
    – Barmar
    Commented Jul 15, 2019 at 18:54
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No need.

In normal business relationships it would be a common courtesy and appreciated as such, but for some reason most recruiters operate quite differently and are lacking even the most basic courtesy around communication. They won't bother with a "no thanks", so you don't need to bother either.

If someone actually contacts you, you can simply reply with "sorry, I already got a different job".

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    "lacking even the most basic courtesy around communication" is even an understatement.
    – L.Dutch
    Commented Jul 15, 2019 at 5:34
  • “most recruiters operate quite differently and are lacking even the most basic courtesy around communication” — recruitment isn't a social interaction, it's business. At a certain scale, saying no to everyone is a waste of everyone's time.
    – Paul D. Waite
    Commented Jul 15, 2019 at 6:41
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    Recruiters are not necessarly part of a company. Maybe there was an edit but vladi98 talks about having applied at companies directly. There is not a single word about recruiters in the question.
    – Mangocherry
    Commented Jul 15, 2019 at 8:12
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    @PaulD.Waite If I could downvote your comment I would. There are people who check their email multiple times a day waiting for a response from a company they applied for. Also they might slow down their applications in hopes of getting a response. A simple "Thank you for your application but no" would likely help a lot of people.
    – xyious
    Commented Jul 15, 2019 at 19:27
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    @Mangocherry from what I've seen companies and recruiters are equally bad, in that neither tend to reply even "we're not interested".
    – ave
    Commented Jul 15, 2019 at 21:35
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The other answers have it covered pretty well: no need unless you reach the interview stage.

I just want to add that if anything goes wrong with your accepted job and you need to get back on the job market quickly then the applications currently in a pre-interview stage could be a lifesaver.

It is unlikely that anything will go wrong with your selected job offer but sometimes things do go wrong and it never hurts to hedge your bets when the hedge is free. I wouldn't go as far as continuing applications which have reached the interview stage (because that actually causes people inconvenience) but no one loses if you let the other applications run their course.

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No. If they respond to wanting an interview, then let them know you have accepted another offer.

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I had 2 interviews scheduled with Company B and C for next week, which I both cancelled by informing them I have accepted another offer in the meantime.

It was good of you to be courteous by informing in advance. This potentially saved some work/time for the recruiter and interviewer.

what do I do with companies D, E and F, which I have applied to, but which have not yet responded to my applications at all?

Are you still looking to hear back from them, and expecting a potentially better opportunities compared to what Company A has to offer? You have also mentioned this:

These are not companies that have ghosted me, but it has simply been quite little time since I have applied and there are high chances I will hear from them in the next few days.

Even if you haven't heard back (but have a high chance of hearing), it shouldn't hurt to wait till you can, and review from among the best options.

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