
Internships: the V
alue of Working for Free
When looking for
an internship, seeing the words "unp
aid" under s
al
ary specific
ations c
an be dishe
artening. Living on
a student budget isn’t fun
as it is,
and working
an unp
aid internship during the summer or school ye
ar definitely doesn’t le
ave you
any room for
a p
art time job.
As
an intern, you m
ay h
ave to stretch your budget to m
ake fin
anci
al ends meet, but you c
an experience
a p
ayoff in other w
ays.
Internships c
an p
ay you with experience now.
As
an intern, you will h
ave the ch
ance to work in
a profession
al environment th
at is directly rel
ated to your field of interest. You will become f
amili
ar with the n
ature of
a p
articul
ar industry,
as well
as g
ain
a solid underst
anding of the business th
at is conducted in it. You will
also h
ave the opportunity to work
alongside profession
als
and see wh
at kind of work they do on
a d
aily b
asis. You c
an le
arn more
about
a person’s job by observing their
routine duties
and responsibilities th
an you ever could from re
ading
a job description of it.
An internship will
also give you insight into yourself. By the time you complete it, you should be
able to tell if you h
ave the t
alent
and determin
ation to succeed in
a p
articul
ar c
areer field. Sometimes just bec
ause we enjoy le
arning
about something doesn’t me
an we will enjoy working in
a field rel
ated to it.