Unpaid Internships: the Tough Questions

Along with specialized coursework, internships are an effective way to gain experience in a specific field. They're very common for graduate students. However, the decision to pursue an internship might be a tough one if you're considering one of the many unpaid internships out there. Here are some key points to seriously consider before accepting:

What's the time commitment?
Some internships require only a few hours each week, while others demand an almost full-time schedule. Most importantly, you should have a good idea of how this commitment might affect your attendance or performance in school. Will you still be able to adequately prepare for each class and get there on time?

Another consideration that particularly impacts graduate students is the time unpaid internships take away from the time they'd normally be working other jobs for pay. Can you afford to take this time away from a paying job to work for free? Unpaid internships often make up for this shortcoming in the form of valuable experience and connections, but you have to establish a financial plan to cover your most important necessities, such as rent and food, before taking on an unpaid commitment.

What about doing an internship for credit?
Not all schools require it, but graduate programs generally allow students to earn course credit for internships they complete. If you're paying for your own tuition, either out of pocket or through student loans, keep in mind that you'd have to pay this rate for an internship, too.

What are your goals for this internship?
All internship programs are different. Are you hoping for hands-on experience and responsibility? Or, even if the internship involves a lot of time in the mail room, are you more concerned with the connections you could make with professionals in your field? Working for free could become a frustrating experience, so you should determine if the benefits will make it worthwhile. This may be true for some internships but not for others.

So, if you're thinking about applying for or taking an unpaid internship, be sure to determine if it's the right fit for you first.