EEH

Career centers and college students believe strongly in the value of internships. In terms of your own experience with friends, family members, or other college students you know, have you experienced that students who have interned have an easier time finding a job than students who haven’t? Or receive better job offers than students without internship experience?

I will be a college senior next year and I’m trying to decide what to do with my last summer before I graduate. I have already interned in the local office of one of my U.S. Senators and next academic year I will have a paid law-related internship. (I’m a Political Science major and am not set on a particular career field, although I am interested in politics, international affairs, education, public health, law, and consulting.) I have an offer to do an unpaid, but seemingly substantial, internship in DC this summer with a political advocacy organization that employs about 35 people. In addition to the fact that it is unpaid, I will also have to pay around $3,000 to live in DC for the summer. My parents would not have a problem financially supporting me, but I still wonder if the opportunity cost of no pay + $3,000 housing will really be worth having this internship on my resume. Plus I only know a couple people in DC and was kind of hoping to spend time with my family in New York during this last summer before I graduate because I will probably not be returning to my home area after college. Then again, living in DC for 3 months could be a good opportunity to make contacts in the area and explore the city. If I go home for the summer, I will work part time and volunteer/intern part time at my county’s Family Court, doing things like observing the court, filing, and copying, while rotating through the different departments.

What would you advise me to do? Do you think doing this DC internship will give me enough of a substantial leg up on job prospects that it is worth no pay and $3,000 housing? In your experience have you seen student internships result in better/more jobs offers? (Also, I don’t know if it matters, but I attend a top-30 university and my GPA is around a 3.8.)

Thanks in advance for any thoughts/advice

smcnair21

just tell us the university

pinku2002

Honest answer is that you should do the internship , nothing can replace experience , even though you have to pay for it. Not only do you get something on your resume and something substantial to talk about in your interviews , you get a first hand experience of what goes on , and whether or not it is something you really want to do. Employers really appreciate the fact that you have real world scenarios to relate to.
And yes internships more often than not result in more job offers , but exceptions are always there(both ways).

lkf725

You say you have a paid law-related internship the next academic semester. Is this a co-op or are you working in addition to going to school? Honestly, I don't know what is best, but if you have had one recently and you are having one in the fall, I really can't see that taking the summer off would be all that horrible. However, if the DC internship holds a lot of interest for you, you should jump on that opportunity if you can afford it.

EEH

The law-related internship would be about 9-10 hours a week in addition to being a student.

lkf725

If this is your last chance to be home with your family and you will regret not having this time, I think you should go home and finish up your emotional business there. You will never get another chance, but the internship is of debatable value. Just my parental opinion.

MSUDad

Internships are crucial in the fields you have noted. They provide two key things: experience and an insider's knowledge of job openings before they're made public, via the contacts you make.

SilverClover

Definitely do the internship.

I am a rising sophomore and am working 2 jobs this summer to support myself while I work a full time internship at a nonprofit in Boston. Even though the internship itself does not pay, I am learning skills such as grant writing, grant research, and administrative skills that will be extremely valuable in my future career goals.

lkf- Is that more for the OP's benefit or his/her family? I never plan on going home for an extended period again and people tell me that's selfish. However I think it would be more selfish wasting my breaks in rural Georgia when my parents have worked so hard to get me in a position where I can do internships or live abroad. Just my POV..

lkf725

This is a very personal decision and we can only offer some food for thought.

My post was meant for the OP's benefit. Parents prepare themselves over a period of years for the time when their kids leave home. In fact, EEH said that his parents would be willing to financially support the unpaid internship. It sounded to me like EEH might have some doubts when he said he "was kind of hoping to spend time with my family in New York during this last summer before I graduate because I will probably not be returning to my home area after college." It is a transition time and there is only one chance to have the last summer with the family. I think if EEH feels like he would always regret this lost farewell to his family time, he should go to NY. I applaud him for acknowledging that everything in life doesn't have to be evaluated based upon power or money. It could be a personal mistake that he could never correct.

OTOH SilverClover, maybe you don't have any desire to see your family or vise verse. If there is no emotional connection on either side, it would be a mockery to go. Your parents will know if you don't really care about them or don't really want to be there. But I really can't believe that parents who worked hard and sacrificed for you would be pleased that you achieved success and forgot about them. And that's just my POV, of course. To each his own.