By Rose Jensen (Guest Author)
Ask anyone to choose between a paid or unpaid internship and the answer seems obvious: of course you would want to be paid for your work. However, unpaid internships may be better for your career in the long run, and maybe even more financially sound. Whether this is true or not depends on the type of internships you are offered, so keep in mind these three things before making a decision.
1. The work you will have to do as an intern. Whether you are paid or not, the most important thing you should consider when choosing an internship is what type of work you will be doing as an intern. You want an internship that allows you to become as involved as possible, letting you explore the nooks and crannies of your prospective career. Internships, after all, are meant to prepare you for an actual job in that industry. It is better to be working on projects and networking with industry people for free than being paid to solely fetch coffee and file papers. After all, you do not want to be hired later due to your internship experience only for the employer to discover that you never learned anything.
2. The sum of all expenses. Some unpaid internships will reimburse you for your commute, lunch, or other expenses to make up for the fact that you are working for free. Unpaid internships are usually more flexible with hours also, so you may be able to keep your part-time hours elsewhere while you intern. Take this into account when calculating how much an internship is going to cost. Most paid interns are still not paid well, which can mean that while you are pulling full-time hours, you are making less than a part-time food server. However, this can be ideal if many of your expenses are covered, such as if you live at home and do not have to worry about rent.
3. The place you will be working with as an intern. Big name companies are good, and can look great splashed across your resume. However, small companies may be better for students as it is more likely that you will be entrusted with responsibilities. Big companies with regular internship programs often have their interns do menial tasks of little benefit, whereas smaller companies are more likely to have their interns help in all areas. In addition, find out in which case you will be able to more successfully network, as building relationships within the industry is a huge benefit of working as an intern. If you feel you can successfully network in the big company, by all means take the opportunity whether it is paid or not.
This post was contributed by Rose Jensen, who writes about the online courses. She welcomes your feedback at Rose.Jensen28(at)yahoo.com.
