Internships: Are They Worth It?

By Lev Novak

It’s Monday, and that means that some of you might be reading this from work, or from class, or from your pajamas, depending on your schedule.

Most of you, however, will have an internship at some point. Almost all of you at least know someone with an internship, or have considered one yourself, and it’s a curious question: when is working for free a good idea?

I hope to help you answer that question with some more questions.

1. Do They Pay You?

I’m not being a jerk. I’m being real.

If they pay you at your internship, congratulations- you have a job. You’re cool. Keep your job. Hamburgers get expensive.

If they don’t pay, you’re going to have to answer your own question a little differently.

Will you gain something from this?

Knowledge of the industry. Career skills. Connections. Something to do during the summer that isn’t sleeping till noon. A resume boost. Free snacks around the office and knowledge of what an office actually means could be all forms of payment that you pick up.

As you can see, though, those things aren’t standard. An unpaid internship in your dream industry pays well- an unpaid internship in an accounting firm doesn’t. Unless you care about the industry, don’t bother- that means an internship won’t supply you with anything you care about, and even that internship boost won’t help if you don’t like the industry.

2. Do You Like It?

Some people do.

I used to intern at College Humor. It was terrific, and I learned a lot. I made friends in my difficult field of comedy, had an excuse to be in New York City, learned about writing, websites, and humor, got a nice name on my resume, and got tons of snacks for free.

It was an awesome place and an awesome experience, and I learned something from it- I wasn’t made for an office. Really. That wasn’t College Humor’s fault- they have, in every sense, the greatest office this side of Google- but it was something I learned about myself.

It was worth it to learn that about myself, and to learn many other things- but it’s something that kept me from pursuing any other internships afterwards. If you aren’t made for an internship, you aren’t- there are better uses of your time. I was, in all honesty, a bit of a pain of an intern. I had an attitude, was over-ambitious, and was generally trying to be seen and heard in a manner unbefitting of free labor. At College Humor, they were as nice as possible about this. At a law firm, I’d never be heard from again.

3. Can You Do Anything Else?

Instead of internships, I did my own work.

I did some part-time paid work around campus and I worked on my own personal projects. If that sounds more appealing, do that. A part-time Starbucks gig and a project (an album, a novel) can be more impressive, more fun, and better paying than an internship. And honestly, Starbucks and a project looks about the same as an internship on your resume (depending on the internship, I suppose.)

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