advice needed in awkward situation: how should I address verbal offer extended but later cancelled summer internship

Hi all. This is rising junior at semi-target. Here's my situation: I received a verbal offer for an internship at a small PE firm for summer 2020. I was excited but made the very thoughtless mistake of including "incoming private equity intern" on my resume before receiving any written offer. I then sent the resume to a handful of bulge bracket for their SA 2021 programs. Two weeks later, I learned from the hiring manager of the small PE firm that the firm was downsizing and they only officially accepted one intern for the summer who is a rising senior with prior PE experience. tl;dr: I didn't intern at the firm, but I couldn't find a way to update the resumes that I already sent out.

Anyways, I have my first superday next week and I have a feeling I will definitely be asked about this. Please give me advice on how to talk about this. Should I send them an email beforehand with the correct resume explaining what has happened? I am just worried that will make myself sound thoughtless and stupid if I tell them the story above. someone please help.

3 Comments
 

Don’t mention it at all. People won’t ask about it.

If they dig into it then address it as follows: “I was extended an offer but they recently reneged on it because they’re experiencing downsizing from COVID. It was an unfortunate circumstance but I’m currently in the final interview stages with a couple of other firms for an upcoming internship to replace this one on my resume.”

 

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