Once you become an upperclassman in college, you eventually come across the possibilities of internships and with more and more qualified candidates, there are a more diverse set of opportunities for internships working with and against you. Internships now can be paid, unpaid, temporary, full-time, part-time, seasonal, virtual or real, and commuting or local. Basically it seems like there are so many options that there are few that actually qualify you for anything.
If you’ve picked a major, you’ll often get e-mails of interesting events, services, and even internships at your disposal which I suggest you take advantage of as much as possible. Unfortunately during the summer, the more likely option for college students lately are unpaid, part-time internships which often are hosted almost exclusively near a city putting those who live away from one at a disadvantage. So, should you intern this summer or not?
1) Consider the time it would take to “get there.”
If the internship is unpaid and only part-time (but 10 minutes from your house) your best bet is to take it. Since it’s easier to fit in a part time schedule with another job, you won’t get uber stressed over commuting between the internship and your job. This way you’ll arrive to both on time every day.
2) Is the time you put in worth it?
If you get an unpaid internship you’re most likely going to take a part time job as well in order to make money. Unfortunately, the internship is what is going to drive your resume even if you work full time at Dunkin Donuts as a cashier all summer. There is a flip side to this though. If, without the internship, you would have a full time job and it is one of resume value (such as working with an organization such as YMCA where you can get leadership experience) that might be a job you should consider working full time, especially if the internship that would make you part-time is not in a direct line with your career goals.
3) Is it an actual internship?
If you look on UMass Experience, there are a few “internships” that ask for a social media intern – this is a waste of time. Unless your direct career aspirations are in social media in correlation to marketing/advertising, do not accept these internships. These are minor things of no value to employers. The business attempting to hire you as a “virtual social media intern” is just recruiting you because you’re addicted to social media as is and therefore it’s just less work for them to do. Be extremely wary of internships that are virtual and require a skill that any person of any age, major, life path could do.
Internships can be a great experience if utilized in the right way to achieve an amazing resume for your goals, but don’t take an internship just because it would give you the title of intern. Many businesses won’t care if you were a virtual dog groomer intern if it gave you no marketable skills whatsoever anyway. If the internship also would take away from an amazing opportunity for a full time job that’s only seasonal (when you’re home) that job might be worth looking into again.