An internship can be a great way to “test drive” a job before you make the leap into that career.
It could have helped me enormously as I was finishing college. During my last semester of college, student teaching showed me that my chosen field – education – was NOT a good career fit – a painful personal experience which came way too late in my education. So, I implemented a quick change of career direction, and joined the United States Marine Corps. Perhaps not everyone’s first career choice, but it worked for me at the time, and I’m glad I did it. Semper Fi to all Marines!
These days, people in many different stages of their careers and lives look to internships to provide insight and experience, as well as the proverbial foot-in-the-door plus a boost to their personal networks.
Sometimes, you have no internship options, but ideally, test driving that job before it becomes a permanent part of your life proves to be very useful. Learn from my (and many others’) mistakes!
Paid internships are usually the preferred option, but often an unpaid internship is the only option available. Sometimes that’s just fine. Sometimes it is NOT fine.
An unpaid internship is supposed to be job training, essentially. However, a recent New York Times article highlighted abuse of unpaid interns basically doing free work for some employers. Good for the employers’ bottom lines, at least in the short term, but definitely against the (DOL) rules!
According to the US Department of Labor, internships must meet the following criteria or the “intern” should be paid for the work:
1. The training, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the
employer, is similar to what would be given in a vocational school or academic
educational instruction;
2. The training is for the benefit of the trainees;
3. The trainees do not displace regular employees, but work under their close
observation;
4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the
activities of the trainees, and on occasion the employer’s operations may actually
be impeded;
5. The trainees are not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the training
period; and
6. The employer and the trainees understand that the trainees are not entitled to
wages for the time spent in training.
So, if you are being trained, don’t expect to be paid. But, if you are doing actual work for the employer, even entry-level work, you should be paid.
http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/attach/TEGL/TEGL12-09acc.pdf
NYTimes article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/business/03intern.html?hp
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Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg.
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