pmvd

I am afraid I won't be able to find an internship... if that happens, will it be equivalent to writing off as a failure the time and money I invested on a college education?

randomgrandeur

Depends on your field, but if you're only going college for the classes, you're doing yourself a disservice. Yes, jobs look at GPA but they also require at least one-year internship experience in your field.

My problem is that I have experience in a field I hate so the job offers are coming in for work I have no interest in lol.

It's going to be a lot tougher if you don't have any though. For instance, they'd be more prone to hire the kid with a solid 3.1 GPA with 2-3 summers of relevant work experience over the kid with a 3.6 who had zero.

pmvd

-"It's going to be a lot tougher if you don't have any though. For instance, they'd be more prone to hire the kid with a solid 3.1 GPA with 2-3 summers of relevant work experience over the kid with a 3.6 who had zero. "

My problem is that I still don't know what I want to do for a living and don't want to end up doing internships unrelated to what I am gonna end up doing after college. As you said "relevant work experience", but what if my work/internship experience doesn't relate to whatever job I'll be pursuing. In that case, is it still better to do any internship than no internship at all?


-My problem is that I have experience in a field I hate so the job offers are coming in for work I have no interest in lol."

How come? What are the fields you are referring to?

chuy

No, it won't be a failure, it'll just be harder to get a job. If you've done a lot of research that can help balance it out quite a bit. You just have to have SOME experience to talk about when you're having your interviews.

To restate, it's extremely important to get an internship. But if you can't your time in college wasn't a waste.

randomgrandeur

My problem is that I still don't know what I want to do for a living and don't want to end up doing internships unrelated to what I am gonna end up doing after college. As you said "relevant work experience", but what if my work/internship experience doesn't relate to whatever job I'll be pursuing. In that case, is it still better to do any internship than no internship at all?

That's tough. I can relate to that. If I could do it all over again, I'd try something different each summer. At least, that'd narrow down the field by the time I graduated. Do you even have an idea of what kind of work makes you happy? Plus, there are some jobs that can be cross-referenced with others. It's always good to have some type of work environment experience because you don't want to be perceived as just a bookworm.


How come? What are the fields you are referring to?

I'm a marketing major/graduate but some of my experience is in sales. I hate sales. It seems like employers overlook my PR, event planning and creative endeavors to only focus on my success as a salesperson during ONE summer.

chuy

Some experience is better than none, even if it's only somewhat related. I mean, just the fact that you've shown that you can show up and do what you're asked is going to be better than dropping off the map over the summer.

4321234

a counselor told me that even if you can hold up a job during college for a few years, employers can see that you're not some whiny spoiled college kid and that you can actually work.

colboy

Having an internship is definitely better than not having one. It shows you actually did something.. Plus another point to doing an internship is to actually see if you like doing that kind of work. Always doing something is better than not doing something. Keep searching and just take anything that is offered to you.