<p>are they worth it? or should I look for other paid work. </p>
<p>A lot of internship positions in the public policy field tend to be unpaid, why?</p>
<p>because the govt has no money.</p>
<p>Non-profits are also broke. But my d loves her internship at one of them!</p>
<p>you have to do what you have to do to build your resume… obviously paid is better, but if you can get an unpaid internship in the field that you think you want to be in, that is very valuable (if you can afford it).</p>
<p>my internship “career” has gone: think tank (unpaid), federal government agency (unpaid), federal government agency (paid), federal government agency (paid)</p>
<p>the unpaid internships were key to getting the paid opportunities that lead to a job.</p>
<p>In general, government internships are “hot stuff” - they either don’t have funding, or there is no reason for funding because they already receive so many applications/have so many candidates to choose from who are willing to do work for no pay. </p>
<p>You can definitely find lots of paid opportunities within government as well, but they are significantly more competitive. If you have little to no work experience in public policy, taking an unpaid internship is pretty common. It is way better to take an unpaid internship early than have to take one later on.</p>
<p>I had a government internship with the U.S. Forest Service that was stipended, including government housing. They do exist. Wasn’t much money, but you could just barely live on it. Went through the Student Conservation Association.</p>
<p>And yes, it was totally key to my job/graduate program now.</p>
<p>I would never take an unpaid internship for a for-profit organization, but government is different.</p>