unpaid internship in unrelated field -- worth for networking

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

<p>this is not a spam post; i did not want to use my normal CC username.</p>

<p>i was recently offered an unpaid internship in one of the top 10 MSA's in the u.s. (see Table</a> of United States Metropolitan Statistical Areas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)</p>

<p>the internship is not in a field i am particularly interested in, but i believe that i have a relatively decent chance of meeting and/or interacting with a variety of people. is it worth the <em>possibility</em> of networking to accept the internship?</p>

<p>i have the option of finding a part-time job while interning, but i have not found any jobs in the area yet.</p>

<p>my family is not "poor"; the money it would take to pay for my housing and food, of course, is no mere small change. currently my parents do not support me accepting this internship, so it seems that i would be paying for everything myself (or that i would at least eventually pay my parents back for everything)</p>

<p>i realize this post is quite vague.</p>

<p>thanks for any input you may have</p>

2

<p>No, totally not worth it. Unless that field is one you’re interested in, there’s zero guarantee that you’ll “network” with anyone who can help you down the road. Just being in a big MSA is meaningless. Your parents are right to seriously question the value of the internship.</p>

3

<p>Don’t do it. It’s unpaid and not related to your field. It’s a waste of time. Just get a part-time job. At least you will make money.</p>

4

<p>It’s a tricky situation actually… I have a sister who did an internship that wasn’t related to her major. She did it for her personal interest. After she did her internship, she got a letter of recommendation from her boss. Her boss even helped her find a job by recommending her to other companies. I would say it depends on your situation though.</p>