Opinions/Advice please

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

<p>-Background-
I am a college freshman in San Jose and I am currently undeclared planning to switch to a business major, 3.5 GPA, no work experience but volunteer experience in high school.</p>

<p>So I applied for an "internship" through my college website and they gave me two calls already for an interview and now they are expecting me to do an essay + 1 more interview. They said I am lucky because only 10% get this far, and out of those 10% very few get to where I am currently.</p>

<p>So this internship is a door-to-door commission based internship/job which will require me to live somewhere outside my home area, pay ~$2000 for housing for the summer, and work 40+ hours a week going door-to-door trying to sell their product. </p>

<hr>

<p>So my question is, do you guys/girls believe this will be beneficial to me as a college freshmen transferring majors from undeclared to international business and minor in Chinese. </p>

<p>Also could you guys/girls recommend me some good internships for an international business major and/or good websites that can help me search. </p>

<p>btw, for anyone wondering, I am doing my own research also through my school, online, google, etc...</p>

<p>Thank you in advance for all the help.</p>

2

<p>A door-to-door sales job is not an internship. Good internships allow you to work alongside experienced professionals- as though you were a junior member of that office. Go to the school’s career development office (or whatever it is called) and have them help you identify real internships.</p>

<p>They said you were “lucky” and that few qualify…because they are trying to convince you- not because they are a legit opportunity. Sorry. My daughter almost fell for one of these and I researched it on the web.</p>

3

<p>As someone who has done something similar (I did business-to-business, not door-to-door), I would be VERY weary of this “internship”. Door-to-door sales make for a very difficult living, and I can all but guarantee that you will be doing the same things as an “intern” as the entry level full-time salespeople. Recognize that they may not be telling you the truth when they say that only 10% get to where you are; they want to commoditize the job. If you feel that you are part of a select group, you are more likely to stick with the process and eventually take the job than if you were one of 90% of applicants who got to this stage of the process.</p>

<p>In addition, I would be extremely skeptical about any internship that requests you to relocate using your own money. If they value you as a potential employee, they will pay for your housing costs themselves or at least guarantee you enough income to offset your cost of living (like… $1,500 a month to cover rent, gas, utilities and meals). If you are working on pure commission, you need to recognize that if you get assigned to a tough area, you may make less than $20.00 in a day. You also need to realize that if you want to make a good amount of money, you’ll be putting in 10+ hour days, six days a week (in my job last year, I worked 7:30-7:00 Monday to Friday and then 8-6 on Saturday).</p>

<p>If you are interested in sales as a career path, then this will be a GREAT way to learn the business from the ground up, as this is the most difficult and stressful part of sales. However, if you are looking for something to add to your resume for the future, this job probably isn’t worth it. ANY job will help your resume as a rising sophomore, so you should try to find one that is INTERESTING to you, not necessarily the most powerful one possible.</p>

<p>Frankly, as a rising sophomore, you are more likely to get internships abroad than stateside. Look around, see what you can find. Realistically, however, and I know this isn’t what you want to hear, you are going to have a lot of trouble finding an internship. It might be more beneficial for you to do something more standard for college kids (work in a restaurant, at a boutique in a summer resort town, at a mall, etc.); you will get work experience that you cannot get through unpaid internships, and you will be able to set monetary goals for the summer.</p>

4

<p>Exactly what I was thinking. I mean it is a good opportunity to make money IF i even make tons of sales. They even said if I sell 50 products they cover housing and just thinking about the current economical state we are in, I doubt everyone would want to buy a $300+ product. </p>

<p>Thanks for the comment.</p>

<p>-edit-
@Chris - Yeah the 10% thing got me very skeptical the first time I heard it but I was brushed it off and continued with the interview. </p>

<p>On their website they said they would pay for housing IF and only if I sold 50 products (as said above) </p>

<p>Sales may be something I am interested in, I mean it will benefit me because I plan on going into international business, so being able to efficiently communicate to people but it is still iffy for me.</p>

<p>No, thank you for the truth, I rather have that then a sugar coated lie.</p>

<p>Thanks for your advice also</p>

5

<p>Sales is great experience- but this isn’t the right opportunity. If they target 50 sales, you may be lucky to get 5. And, you’ll be paying your expenses and not get anything great for your future resume.</p>

<p>When my dau was offered this sort of thing, it had a fancy title and they told her to go look at their web site for proof it was sooo great. Turned out they wanted people to sell a product in an area where people couldn’t afford that sort of thing. You also need to be aware of what’s called the “sales cycle.” That’s how long it ordinarily takes to close a deal- depending on the product or service, it can take weeks or months.</p>

<p>Good luck. Go see the career dev office.</p>

6

<p>Thank you again for your comments, everything is being taken into consideration. </p>

<p>And I will talk to my career counselor once I get back to school because I am currently still on break</p>

7

<p>Sorry man but it definitely sounds like a scam to me. Also any job that requires that much up front is definitely not worth it. Tell them your not interested and don’t let them trick you into doing it because they will definitely try.</p>

<p>Look around for other internships it is not too late to get a legitimate internship. If worse comes to worse, work retail or something for the summer.</p>

<p>Best of luck.</p>

8

<p>I had a feeling it might one of those “too good to be true” things in life so i took the initiative to apply for fast food/retail stores just in case. I need to try to set up an initial interview.</p>

<p>Thank you everyone for your help</p>