Volunteering and interning, the same thing?

<p>I know, it's probably a silly question, but it would be nice to know because for some reason, interning sounds like one's more serious about their service. Any help on this?</p>

<p>Volunteering is gratiutiously providing your time and effort. When you volunteer at a hospital, for instance, you are not an employee--you are just volunteering your time and are not compensated (at least in any substantial way).</p>

<p>An internship is a form of employment and involves compensation. Many internships are paid; however, a lot of companies get around having to compensate interns by offering academic credit as compensation.</p>

<p>Thanks, just wondering, if I'm interning for no credit and no grades, would it still be an internship?</p>

<p>Lol.......</p>

<p>I think that if you cannot honestly find an internship after looking around and trying really hard, then your next bet is volunteering. </p>

<p>IMHO, as long as you try your best to do something in your future career field it is better than doing nothing at all.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone</p>

<p>Be wary of internships. I once applied for an internship on monstertrak with a local company. It said on monstertrak that it was a paid internship. I got accepted, and worked for three days, until my "boss" told me that it's actually unpaid and that they only offer scholarships at the end of the summer for two people. I quit that very day.</p>