<p>I have a dilemma and I need help!!! I am a graduating senior and have been offered two internship positions. One is with Merrill Lynch (unpaid) and the other is with a small accounting firm (paid). I have always wanted to work with Merrill Lynch (IDK why) but it seems like a really nice and top ranked company. I am sure that upon completion of the internship, my resume will look awesome. The other is just an accounting firm but I am getting paid.</p>
<p>I dont know which one to choose. Merrill Lynch (get the experience) or the small accounting firm..?????????????</p>
<p>By graduating senior do you mean you're going into your senior year of college or you just graduated from college, because if you are just graduating I would go with the accounting firm. If you already graudated I do not think an unpaid internship would help you get entry level jobs at prestigious firms that usually go to recent grads.</p>
<p>It depends on your job description. I know many students including those with a year or two of college experience who have worked at ML and they did mostly administrative work which didn't require much skills. If you are actually doing accounting at the accounting firm instead of answering phones or greet people, take the accounting job.</p>
<p>The name of the company shouldn't matter. It's about adding to your skillset from the work experience.</p>
<p>Like cbreeze said, i think if i were a prospective employer interviewing you three or 4 years down the road for a full time job, Merrill Lynch would obviously be very impressive, but I'd also have to wonder how much you actually contributed or how much knowledge/experience you gained. It's not a knock on you at all, since you're only a rising freshman in college. Something like this can't hurt, but I'm not sure how much it helps either.</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry so much about your job description as a rising freshman. I'd take the position that will give you the most exposure to the field, so you'll know if you want to work at such a company in the future. You might not be doing many meaningful things, but you'd be surprised how much you can pick up by just being around the office, asking questions, being around professionals, etc.</p>
<p>There is a huge difference between Merrill Lynch, the investment bank and Merrill Lynch the local retail brokerage office. The perceived name prestige belongs to the investment bank. The higher ups in finance know the difference.</p>
<p>To the OP, it really doesn't make that much difference as a rising freshman, go with the firm that interests you more.</p>
<p>Last summer, I did an internship in Brazil ( Votorantim school) paid 3800$ which was not very interesting...</p>
<p>On the contrary, i also did an unpaid training period in which I was asked to carry out a survey on the geopolitical threats in Niger ( Africa)... Unpaid but noteworthy.</p>