<p>I need some serious help. I don't know which internship is better for my career, or if it matters THAT much.</p>
<p>I'm in computer science, but looking to get a full time job that will allow me to move laterally into more of a design type thing.</p>
<p>Offer #1: Very large, well known company, although not for tech. Sometimes I feel like it is glazed over on my resume because they think I worked in a store. I interned there last summer, wasn't a GREAT experience because my project was a dud. However this summer I have influence and asked for a specific project that I'd probably enjoy. Everyone that works there is unbelievably nice so they are hard to turn down. $22/hr</p>
<p>Offer #2: Small(er) advertising company that I fell in love with when applying. Offers a different setting in an industry I want to get my foot in the door for. Got a more hip culture. I got through the competitive process only to be offered $7.25/hr. Not exactly sure what'd I'd be doing, but I was very interested in what they were talking about in the interview</p>
<p>My problem is that the work will probably be quite similar. The 2nd offer will probably have more design involved, but I'm not sure if its enough to justify the wage difference. I'm not looking for full time positions with either company after I graduate, although the first offer is guaranteed and the second I probably would not get one.</p>
<p>I kinda need the money to get through the year. I might have to take out a loan if I took the 2nd offer. However I don't know if the industry experience is worth it.</p>
<p>Someone please help me decide. Everytime I think I've decided, I change my mind again. I have the weekend to decide.</p>
<p>I don’t think the second offer is worth taking out a loan, unless the loan is small (and easily repaid considering the field you plan on going into) and the internship is a fantastic opportunity (directly related to what you want to do after graduation, will provide great networking opportunities, and/or would likely offer you a full time job after graduation). It doesn’t sound like this second offer is worth going into debt for. If you’re looking to go into design, it might be even better to have that financial cushion of not having loans so that you have the ability to take a lower-paying design internship or job opportunity if it comes up so that you can get into the field.</p>
<p>If the work is the same, then I definitely wouldn’t recommend taking the lower paying internship just because it’s at an advertising company (unless you really want to go into advertising and you can swing it financially). If you’re worried that the company isn’t a tech company, then do some work on your resume to make sure you’re highlighting the work you did there and that it’s a tech internship. Make sure the job title makes it clear that it wasn’t a retail internship or that you weren’t working in the store, and make sure the eye goes there instead of directly to the name of the company. Your description of the internship duties/accomplishments should also make it clear what kind of work you were really doing there. I highly doubt they’ll disregard it just because it wasn’t at a tech company, if you were doing good, relevant work there.</p>
<p>You can ask the second company if they would be willing to raise their offer or match the other offer, but if it’s a small company, that’s unlikely to happen. I’d definitely recommend the first option, though.</p>