Yelland

I understand that the experience of others can only go so far in a specific situation like mine, however, I thought some other stories might add perspective.

Have people found it worth taking internships (particularly in media-related jobs) despite low pay? In some cases these could lead to actual positions, in some cases it seems like the company is attempting to get some cheap labor. The advice of friends has ranged from "Why not try it out?" to "F--- them, get a REAL job." Would anyone care to chime in somewhere in the middle?

Insane_Membrane

define low pay. If internship gives you good networking oppurtunities or good experiance, I'd say go for it.

Majayiduke09

If the internship has low pay but will provide you with excellent experience, take it. The opportunity can very well lead to a future internship with higher pay or full-time employment.

Roger_Dooley

Media firms in particular are stingy on intern pay, but a solid internship will help you build your network of industry contacts, gain experience, perhaps land a real job there later, and strengthen your resume.

If you have a choice of internships, a brand name company is probably better, and (obviously) one that appears to have more responsibility and relevence to your field would be the best choice.

One overlooked benefit of an internship is that it may convince you that working in that field isn't what you really want to do. Better to find out sooner vs. later.

Media firms can often be stingy on salaries in general, though that isn't always the case. Once you get to know some people at your internship, discuss what they like and dislike about their job, and try to get an idea of pay ranges if pay is important to you. Try to gauge how quickly people advance, etc.

kfc4u

roger_dooley gave good advice.

think of the low pay internship as an investment... what are the potential benefits, how valuable are those to you, and could those be attainable elsewhere?

UCLAri

I'm very glad that I took this current internship I'm in because I learned how little I want to work in this field (HR management.)

Sheed30

Lol, it all depends, some non-paying internships are better than ones that pay you like 20,000 for 6 months....

originaloog

I agree with sheed30's comment that money is not the way to evaluate internships.

Our son(a compsci major) just finished up this summer's internship, and though the pay($20/hr) was not great the experience was fantastic. From day 1 he was involved with the project development team and learned a lot of new tools in the field he is interested in. He actually was a go-to guy for one of the programiing aspects of the project. As his internship was winding down he got two great letters of recommendation and was approached on full time employment when he graduates next spring.

Here is a link to the project he was working on.

http://www.eurogamer.net/tv_video.php?playlist_id=3489

mattistotle

I thought it was only us finance majors that think $20/hr is low internship pay

originaloog

oops. that should have been $12/hr.

ahoo2u

My D spent all summer on an unpaid internship in TV news at CBS. What she's coming away with is worth way more than money. Insight, experience. Met everybody up to the top. Got to see the good and the bad. Now she got a list of names, inside phone numbers and e-mails. Offers to help her get other internships and jobs in other cities. She putWriting samples - the camera men & reporter helped her get stand-up video...every thing she needs for jobs/grad school.

I think every student should do it at least once.

kguo7

Just get a job. 95% of all internships are overrated and the internships you will get after a year of college involves doing stuff that even an elementary school kid can do--inputting data, running errands, using software for basic stuff. Unless you know how to program in 5 different computer languages or already know the market in and out, chances are, you will probably get an internship with responsibilities like I mentioned.

mattistotle

Don't listen to Kguo.

dearsiryes

kguo7 is pretty wrong, yep.

noct

Actually, kguo7 makes a decent point.

Yes, he is distorting the frequency with which internships are like this, but he is right: there are many internships which are simply boring, administrative office work. That's not to say there aren't lessons to be learned from those internships since there are correspondingly a lot of jobs that are simply boring, administrative office work. But for a bright kid with high hopes, those kind of internships can be kind of soul crushing. Best thing you can hope for in this case is that the people you work with are decent and you get paid a fair amount of money. My first internship was essentially what kguo7 described, but it payed fairly well so it worked for me. For what it's worth, almost every undergraduate law internship is simply office work...

I have several friend who were able to find much more rewarding internships. One is currently working as a programming intern for Google. The work is challenging, fun, rewarding, and serious. He loves his team and wishes that he could stay in Mountainview for at least a couple more months. The other is working for Bose in Boston tinkering around with that small home theater system they advertise all over the place. Both have learned a tremendous amount and were compensated extremely well.

Unpaid internships are something that I would consider if the experience was very rewarding. However, paying for an internship is quite possibly the stupidest idea I've ever heard.

I've gone a bit off course, but my point is that internships can be worth it and can pay very well if you manage to land a good one. The amount of legwork that you put into finding an internship will be rewarded so spend a fair amount of time doing so!