<p>Most of my internship searching has come up pretty bleak with 90% of the internships that suite me are unpaid. I cant afford to spend a summer not making money, but i've heard how important internships are and how they are "the new entry level". I really want to have at least one during college, are the unpaid worth doing or should I hold out for strictly paid?</p>
<p>Also how are fall/spring semester internships, has anyone done one?</p>
<p>YES they are definitely worth it!</p>
<p>I did an unpaid internship last summer and it turned into a part-time paid position.</p>
<p>Better yet, that experience helped me get the internship I just finished now.</p>
<p>If you can afford it, they are worth it… and you can always take the unpaid internship until you find a paid one like I did</p>
<p>I’d imagine they could be worth it…but as a college student with not a penny to my name (in debt) and 3 quarters of the costs of college left up to me, not my parents…as a general rule, I refuse to take an unpaid internship. </p>
<p>There are a few exceptions to this rule for me:
<p>I’d also like to add that I have only applied for paid internships thus far because I have never had a problem finding a paid internship in the first place, with my already long and varied work history. However, if you have little to no work experience relevant to your field of interest/major, take an unpaid internship. It will be worth it in the end, even if you are completely broke. </p>
<p>Last comment - fall/spring internships for most companies are a lot easier to attain because they are less competitive. During the summer, almost everyone and their mom are applying for summer internships making the field a lot more selective.</p>
<p>ok thanks, I never even thought about how fall/spring would be less competitive I think I’ll defiantly look into those now.</p>
<p>No they aren’t worth it. I have an unpaid internship right now and it blows. I have a part time research job at school to make some money along the side. I’m getting better experience at that job than I am at my internship. </p>
<p>Find a paid position. They are out there. You just have to look really really hard.</p>
<p>It depends… if the internship is in your ideal field and has substantive work, it is definitely worth it.</p>
<p>I did unpaid research for a think tank last semester (unpaid). This semester I am with a government agency doing meaningful work (unpaid). This summer I will be with a different government agency (getting paid). In the fall I will probably be with a 3rd government agency (unpaid).</p>
<p>I am in grad school and taking unpaid internships, but you should note that these internships are targeted toward my career interests and come with potentially invaluable contacts (aka have the potential to put me on the fast track to employment). I also do substantive work that contributes to the department, not making coffee and copies.</p>
<p>Unpaid internships are a total joke unless it’s for a non-profit cause you believe in. Otherwise, you’re giving a corporation free labor and it has no incentive to give you meaningful work and responsibility. They aren’t investing anything in you, so why should they care what happens to you? You’re just a coffee-fetching peon to them.</p>
<p>I spent six months in a paid internship with a government agency and moved straight into a career-track job in that agency and a funded grad program in the field. My boss made it clear from day 1 that his goal with the internship was to prepare me for a career with the agency. He was investing time and money with the expectation of a return.</p>
<p>It depends entirely on the industry and whether or not you can afford it.</p>
<p>I always the it’s worth it for the experience. But it depends what you end up doing as part of the internship and whether it’s valuable or not.</p>
<p>polarscribe - unpaid internships can lead to jobs also.</p>
<p>I got my current job from my unpaid internship… I would say an unpaid internship is really worth it. Internships are good for your resume anyway.</p>
<p>Unpaid internships are definitely a great stepping stone. It will not be your dream internship, and you will be doing slave work, but it will lead to a great internship after.</p>
<p>YES.</p>
<p>1) Future employers see you are passionate about the job not the money and might be more likely to pay you for your time in other jobs
2) The timing is probably (not in all cases) more flexible so you can probably get a 2nd job (and/or take classes at a school nearby)
3) If you’re an upperclassman many companies will extend unpaid internships into paid jobs once you graduate!</p>
<p>Tough one.</p>
<p>If you are doing an internship that will get you legitimate experience that FAR exceeds what you could possibly get as a paid employee in another industry, then it is an option. If you are getting academic credit, it could also be worthwhile, but I tend to agree with those saying it can be giving corporations free labor.</p>
<p>It is important to show potential superiors that you care about the job and not the money, but your pay is, in addition to a necessity in real life, a sign that your company has enough confidence in you that it will give you money to do the job. It is also a sign that you are good enough at what you do that you deserve to be paid for it.</p>
<p>If you’re looking into government/non-profit work, unpaid is the way to go. If it’s private enterprise, unpaid will probably mean you are a workhorse that gets little respect and less legitimate experience.</p>