Like many college students, I didn’t understand how vital internships are until late in my academic career.
I had that natural student mindset, “everything would be okay” and, “I’ll land a job somehow after graduation.” If I hadn’t attended a professional development workshop supported by my fraternity’s alumni association, I would have learned the hard way I’m not entitled to anything.
I was on the phone with my mother when I received an e-mail announcing a career workshop being arranged via my fraternity. I asked her, “Should I go to this?” She laughed and simply responded, “Why wouldn’t you go? What’s more important than your future?”
So, I went. Lo and behold, it changed my life. Thank you, Mom.
The career seminar entailed one eye-opening lesson after another. Everything I learned immediately caused me to say to myself, “Jeez, I wish I knew that when I was a Freshman.”
While the workshop taught me a number of things related to personal and professional development, the one thing that stuck out for me was the noticeable fact how unprepared I was for life after graduation. I was lacking a critical variable: experience.
I had prior workplace experience, but none of it was relevant to any of the industries I was curious about getting involved in. I knew I had to make-up for lost time so I went wild my last semester of college and got three separate internships.
One was in radio, the other in marketing, and ironically, the third was with CAREEREALISM. I was worried though, because none of them were paid internships. I was in college and didn’t have much money.
Wow, was I wrong. The internships may not have contributed to my life in a monetary way, but they sure paid-off in other ways. The following explains how a single internship experience compares financially against the benefits of a full-time position at a business.
1. Paycheck = Exposure to Acceptable Workplace Conduct
In a full-time job, you’re compensated for the work you do by virtue of money. In an unpaid internship, your compensation is witnessing the realities of the workplace environment first-hand. For many of us, proper etiquette in an office setting comes natural. For others, it doesn’t. By working in an office, you’ll be exposed to some or all of the following:
- Appropriate dress code
- Co-worker team work
- Acceptance of authority
- Humility or understanding your role
- Development of office-phone behavior
2. Benefit Packages = Permanent Branding Opportunities
Owning a good benefits package is extremely comforting for any employee. It’s something you know will remain static as long as you stay employed, and you can rely on it when necessary.
Obviously, no intern is going to be offered medical or life insurance. So, what sort of comparison can we make? Well, what about references? Any person you establish a positive relationship with during an internship, can be used as a reference for further employment opportunities. Having those connections is the same as owning professional benefits, they’ll always be there when you need them.
And, let’s not forget the benefit of having something to actually put on your resume. These internships showcased me as a young professional, not as a hourly part-timer. All three of them supported my efforts to properly brand myself. The benefit of looking good on paper (and on-line) made me more confident and secure in my abilities to succeed.
3. Job Perks = Industry Comparison
It must be nice to have a company car and parking space close to the building. Or, to be able to write off your car mileage. What about putting things on the company card? That’s probably cool, too. I’ve never experienced such utilities but I bet it emits a feeling of ease. Well, the same can be said for an internship.
One profit of an internship is the fact there is no long-term commitment. Participating in an internship offers the convenience of tolerating a number of career industries before getting stuck in one. Wouldn’t you agree that supports a feeling of ease?
Actually, you know what would be best? If we engaged in internships prior to declaring a college major so we could pick a major affiliated with our industrial interests. Darn, I wish someone told me that in high school.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
About Greg Barrette
Great article, so true!
Greg, nice post! There should be more posts on similar topics on careerealism. Internship needs to be stressed a lot in India and we are seeing the changes happen in the student community. I guess we as teachers should stress more on the same listing their benefits and probably having case studies like yours :-) I enjoyed reading this post!
No one can discount the possible benefits of an unpaid internship. They can, and often do, lead to great on the job experience when a degree alone is insufficient for employment.
It's not the nature of unpaid internships I take issue with, it's their availability. Lower-income students simply cannot afford to work without monetary compensation, and are therefore ineligible for most of these opportunities. It's the children who come from wealthy homes that have the financial support necessary to undertake an unpaid internship.
Of course unpaid internships are useful, the problem is they're not available to those who would benefit from them the most.
I wrote a blog post about it here: http://j.mp/chSO8Z
No one can discount the possible benefits of an unpaid internship. They can, and often do, lead to great on the job experience when a degree alone is insufficient for employment.
It's not the nature of unpaid internships I take issue with, it's their availability. Lower-income students simply cannot afford to work without monetary compensation, and are therefore ineligible for most of these opportunities. It's the children who come from wealthy homes that have the financial support necessary to undertake an unpaid internship.
Of course unpaid internships are useful, the problem is they're not available to those who would benefit from them the most.
I wrote a blog post about it here: http://j.mp/chSO8Z
Excellent post on internships. I agree with your post in that internships are a great way to get ahead. In the current economy, internships are competitive. To find the right career path and to get an advantage for getting hired it helps to have access to the right information. While I admit I work for Vault, I must say they have an extremely useful listing of intership opportunities including exclusive insider information. A lot of their information is available for free. Of course, with a Gold membership you can also get detailed reports and reviews on employers and schools. I Hope this gives you more insight. Do you guys know any other resources that do what Vault does?
Sorry ya'll, but I couldn't disagree more. Some internships can be hugely helpful – if your boss is grateful that you're being their bitch FOR FREE. But out of the 3 internships I've had, only one has been helpful in the ways you mention. The other 2 taught me nothing about the industry unless I eavesdropped while making coffee, read while I photocopied. If I wanted to be someone's assistant, I'd… be someone's assistant. Most internships nowadays take advantage of college students and recent grads who are desperate to get a job and willing to work for free – HOPING they'll land a permanent position. Unfortunately for them, they rarely do and they're stuck with no realistic working experience on their resume.
Sorry ya'll, but I couldn't disagree more. Some internships can be hugely helpful – if your boss is grateful that you're being their bitch FOR FREE. But out of the 3 internships I've had, only one has been helpful in the ways you mention. The other 2 taught me nothing about the industry unless I eavesdropped while making coffee, read while I photocopied. If I wanted to be someone's assistant, I'd… be someone's assistant. Most internships nowadays take advantage of college students and recent grads who are desperate to get a job and willing to work for free – HOPING they'll land a permanent position. Unfortunately for them, they rarely do and they're stuck with no realistic working experience on their resume.
Internships are important. I'm wondering, though, if your internships met these six criteria. It's important. Did they meet *all* six criteria?
1. The training, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to that which would be given in a vocational school;
2. The training is for the benefit of the trainees or students;
3. The trainees or students do not displace regular employees, but work under close supervision;
4. The employer that provides the training receives no immediate advantage from the activities of the trainees or students and, on occasion, his operations may even be impeded;
5. The trainees or students are not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the training period; and
6. The employer and the trainees or students understand that the trainees or students are not entitled to wages for the time spent in training.
Why are these important? Because they are U.S. Law. Those are the six criteria from the U.S. Department of Labor with regard to internships. http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/flsa/scope/er15.asp
I fear your promotion of unpaid internships does a disservice to students as it fails to help them protect their rights. Too often unpaid internships do entail activities that do benefit the employer. For instance, your article here on CAREEREALISM is on a page that carries advertising. Is writing for CAREEREALISM a part of your internship? If so, even by this small increment, your post does benefit the employer. One more pageview … one more ad served.
So tell us, did any of your three unpaid internships meet *all* six criteria?
Good article Greg.
However, there is a flip side.
In my country (I am French), 3-months internships were the norm 10 years ago, then 6-months. Nowadays most of the French MNC's require from 12 to 18 months, full time!
Unpaid internships are a kind of modern slavery. We are so used to accept this situation, most of the French managers I known in Asia are not afraid to pay their trilingual French entry-level staff lower than Chinese people working in plants (less than 3000RMB per month, i.e. 450 US$). What will be next?
Hi Laurent,
I do think you bring up an interesting scenario that corporate America will need to pay attention to. There is a fine line between unpaid internships that can give a worker the skills they need to be more employable and an employer taking advantage of a worker.
That said, I think we need to put some of the blame on higher education. People in America are told they have to go to college and pay thousands of $$$ for a degree in order to be eligible for jobs. Yet, in most cases, students aren't learning enough practical skills and knowledge to prepare them for employers.This has forced the employers to have to invest significant time and money training them so they can provide value.
I think the answer is to start requiring internships be completed during all 4 semesters of school. On-the-job experience is vital to professional success. Why not make it part of the learning experience and we wouldn't see the scenario you outlined above.
Thanks for contributing and I hope you'll be back to share more!
Completely agree. I wish I would have applied for some in high school, but I am still happy at where I am at. Internships are great because there are a lot of things you just can't learn from a text book. You simply have to experience it. I am currently doing an internship at CKR Interactive, and its been so much fun. Ive already learned so much that I know I can use in the future. I recommend internships to everyone they are a great way to learn, connect, and become engaged in your industry.
Wow are you right Greg! I wish you had been my college advisor way back when! Very insightful and TRUTHFUL article. This article is a huge help to college students and young professionals who are quite often enticed by (and misled to take) the road of monetary gain instead of professional experience.
I appreciate all the positive feedback from everyone!
This is a topic I've been wanting to write about for a long time now. It feels good to finally share my thoughts.
Thank you for reading!
Shucks Greg! That was fantastic!
Excellent info! Getting real-world experience through an internship is so important! I just hired two interns and the No. 1 think I look for is a desire to learn about the working world and a genuine interest in the field.
What a great post. Thanks Greg! I am a college recruiter and give classroom presentations about careers to high school stduents. I am constantly pushing internships and EXPERIENCE as a #1 quality to have!
Great article…very insightful and very true for recent college graduates and entry-level employees. The same concept goes for getting involved in volunteer work…work experience is very valuable whether paid or not
Great points Greg!
No amount of education can compensate for a lack of real world experience, and good internships are one great way to get that experience. Kudos to you for being willing to work so hard at unpaid work. It will continue to pay off in spades as you build your future :)
As his co-worker, I can definitely say that Greg is one of those students who not only saw that he had a problem on his hands, but really took action. I think so many students have the 'Ah-ha Moment' Greg experienced late in his college days, but then struggle to engage in a plan that will fix the problem. I realize it's not easy, but motivating yourself to find and participate in internships is a true 'game-changer' for a young professional.
Great article, Greg! And so important for other students to realize. Hey – why not intern *during* high school! LOL!
Seriously though, it's clear that you're ahead of the game not only by your insights and experiences, but also by your professional behavior. Remember I told you, when I first saw your picture, that I thought you were much older based on the way you conduct yourself?
Oh, and really well-written piece.
Go Greg! : )
Greg
This is a great post! Internships are an awesome way to gain exposure, experience; they can definitely be leveraged when applying for full time opportunities to help you stand apart!
Greg, your post is a great one. You make some fantastic comparisons, and you're so far ahead of many others who tried to skip the unpaid options out there. You should post more often. :-)
Great post!
So spot on. Many students don’t realize that an internship IS invaluable! Really, it is. So clever (and correct) of you to compare the experience and takeaways of an intership with compensation and benefits. (Love that!) Job seekers, students, graduates, listen up! This really is your wakeup call…
Greg,
Valuable insight about moving from a hourly worker into a young professional. This personal branding strategy will serve many graduating students. Thanks for sharing!