What do you think about unpaid internship?

Have you done any unpaid internship? What are the benefits and pitfalls? Is it good to take an unpaid internship just for experience or exposure? What if the internship deals with skills pertaining to certification you are pursuing (say MCTS, CISCO, etc.)

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Comments

skyline

Grab any exp you can that would align with your cert path.

Hands on exp is always best!!

networker050184

An unpaid internship is better than no internship.

Jarhead2011

I agree that any internship is better than none even if its unpaid, but said depends what responsibilities you also have, can't actually take an unpaid internship when you have to take care of your wife and kid(s) etc.

But especially today I think getting more hands on experience anywhere is valuable. Only Certs won't necessary get you a job.

Cisco Inferno

its valuable exposure to the field. also, you might be able to get college credit if it applies to you.

NetworkingStudent

networker050184 wrote: »

An unpaid internship is better than no internship.

+1

I just started a internship/volunteer position and it's a great learning experience. Your pay is the experience and knowledge you get will during the internship at the company or organization. Anything you can do to add to your resume is a good thing in my opinion. Not everyone does an internship, so this gives you an edge over other job applicants applying for the same job. They might have the same degree and certs that you might have, so this would help make you stand out. Also, after it’s over and you perform and did a good job you can ask for a letter of reference and you could use them for a reference.

SteveLord

Jarhead2011 wrote: »

can't actually take an unpaid internship when you have to take care of your wife and kid(s) etc.

Or if your parent's aren't paying for your school.

I would exhaust all options that include a paycheck+experience first.

zerogames

they could take an advantage of u

certhelp

zerogames wrote: »

they could take an advantage of u

They could even in a regular employment situation.

MentholMoose

zerogames wrote: »

they could take an advantage of u

If there is no benefit to you, then just stop showing up, it's not like they are paying you anyway. An unpaid internship should go two ways; the employer gets free labor, the intern gets experience.

Dakinggamer87

NetworkingStudent wrote: »

+1

I just started a internship/volunteer position and it's a great learning experience. Your pay is the experience and knowledge you get will during the internship at the company or organization. Anything you can do to add to your resume is a good thing in my opinion. Not everyone does an internship, so this gives you an edge over other job applicants applying for the same job. They might have the same degree and certs that you might have, so this would help make you stand out. Also, after it’s over and you perform and did a good job you can ask for a letter of reference and you could use them for a reference.

Agreed!!

mikej412

An internship (paid or unpaid) is something a student can use to set themselves apart from all the other new grads when they hit the real world job market. We usually offer our interns jobs when they graduate

And internships are one of the things our recruiters look for when doing campus recruiting for graduating seniors.

drew726

You almost have to do it with you don't have any other opportunities because these "entry-level" positions still state 2+ years of experience.

Chris:/*

Internships are an awesome way to get experience and to get your foot in the door. I know of a number of people who had an internship during college or after high school. Many companies had a nice position waiting for them after graduation. Those that did not get a job received not only technical skills but also corporate experience. In the end experience and capability are what matter not certs.

Heero

I would suggest an internship to anyone going through college. Great experience and can help put you ahead of others when you graduate.

Cisco Inferno

Heero wrote: »

I would suggest an internship to anyone going through college. Great experience and can help put you ahead of others when you graduate.

thumbs up to this.
Last monday i emailed the IT Director about any volunteer positions. i just met with him a couple hours ago and was offered a support spot through work study. pay is $7.25 but the experience is priceless. My first day is tomorrow and im going to be helping the replacement of switches all across campus! definitely better than what i expected.

its a community college and ive been accepted into a bachelors program at another college in brooklyn. Im not even in the 2 year networking program but i guess my initiative along with certifications put me ahead of the pack. So make sure to email directors or managers and they will see your initiative and help you out.

SteveLord

Cisco Inferno wrote: »

pay is $7.25 but the experience is priceless..

Anything to at least cover your gas and lunch is great.

networker050184

Cisco Inferno wrote: »

thumbs up to this.
Last monday i emailed the IT Director about any volunteer positions. i just met with him a couple hours ago and was offered a support spot through work study. pay is $7.25 but the experience is priceless. My first day is tomorrow and im going to be helping the replacement of switches all across campus! definitely better than what i expected.

its a community college and ive been accepted into a bachelors program at another college in brooklyn. Im not even in the 2 year networking program but i guess my initiative along with certifications put me ahead of the pack. So make sure to email directors or managers and they will see your initiative and help you out.

Sounds awesome man! You never know until you ask I guess. Congrats!

MentholMoose

Cisco Inferno wrote: »

thumbs up to this.
Last monday i emailed the IT Director about any volunteer positions. i just met with him a couple hours ago and was offered a support spot through work study. pay is $7.25 but the experience is priceless. My first day is tomorrow and im going to be helping the replacement of switches all across campus! definitely better than what i expected.

its a community college and ive been accepted into a bachelors program at another college in brooklyn. Im not even in the 2 year networking program but i guess my initiative along with certifications put me ahead of the pack. So make sure to email directors or managers and they will see your initiative and help you out.

Do your best and that experience will be golden, and it's even better since it's a paid position. I've worked in higher ed and I can tell you that tons of college and university IT employees start out as student techs, myself included. The positions I've seen former techs in has been diverse, ranging from helpdesk, systems and network admins, DBAs, web programmers, and various management positions.

NOC-Ninja

When I graduated on 04, I had an intern and they paid me $16/hr.

I guess if you want that experience then go for it. However, its better to get paid minimum than nothing at all.

Cisco Inferno

SteveLord wrote: »

Anything to at least cover your gas and lunch is great.

yea i mean its right at school so thats awesome. also, its new york city so by gas, you mean train fare. and i prefer it well over driving. I get a nice 1hr study session each way every day.

and yes this is my secret method to graduate and then go into operations maybe. but for now im open to be a support slave. im certain everyone at this CC is just slacking, not getting certs or exp and hoping for a high paying level4 engineer job after graduation. cant wait to see their faces. maybe the IT Manager saw I wasn't like those fools. anyways thanks guys and sorry for the thread jack.

edzy

Cisco Inferno wrote: »

thumbs up to this.
Last monday i emailed the IT Director about any volunteer positions. i just met with him a couple hours ago and was offered a support spot through work study. pay is $7.25 but the experience is priceless. My first day is tomorrow and im going to be helping the replacement of switches all across campus! definitely better than what i expected.

its a community college and ive been accepted into a bachelors program at another college in brooklyn. Im not even in the 2 year networking program but i guess my initiative along with certifications put me ahead of the pack. So make sure to email directors or managers and they will see your initiative and help you out.

Congrats

I've been looking for internships all over NYC and haven't struck gold yet.

Dakinggamer87

Cisco Inferno wrote: »

thumbs up to this.
Last monday i emailed the IT Director about any volunteer positions. i just met with him a couple hours ago and was offered a support spot through work study. pay is $7.25 but the experience is priceless. My first day is tomorrow and im going to be helping the replacement of switches all across campus! definitely better than what i expected.

its a community college and ive been accepted into a bachelors program at another college in brooklyn. Im not even in the 2 year networking program but i guess my initiative along with certifications put me ahead of the pack. So make sure to email directors or managers and they will see your initiative and help you out.

Sounds awesome congrats!!

Cisco Inferno

edzy wrote: »

Congrats I've been looking for internships all over NYC and haven't struck gold yet.

i saw plenty of positions on internships.com . maybe you should check it out.
plenty are noncredit requiring as well. paid and unpaid.

Vogon Poet

I arranged an internship just to get experience and hopefully a good recommendation letter from a supervisor. I was offered a job within 2 weeks. Remember that a significant part of job hunting is networking within your field.

Dakinggamer87

Vogon Poet wrote: »

I arranged an internship just to get experience and hopefully a good recommendation letter from a supervisor. I was offered a job within 2 weeks. Remember that a significant part of job hunting is networking within your field.

Yep, networking is vital