“Unpaid interns of the world! Get up and leave the office. You have nothing to lose. Literally.” This is the start of one of my favorite articles about unpaid internships because it’s true. There’s a reason so many articles exist with headlines like these: Are Unpaid Internships Still Legal? Here’s Why The Law Is Fuzzier Than Ever,’ ‘Here’s Why You May Want to Rethink That Unpaid Internship,’ and ‘Paid Internships Lead To More Job Offers Than Unpaid Internships.’ Having something on your resume is exciting, especially when you’re first starting out. I should know, back in college, I was one of those optimistic students who thought all experience (even unpaid) would be beneficial.

However, looking back, there were some shortcomings I wish I would have known beforehand. So let’s dive in.

The Statistics

If you’re someone who’s done an unpaid internship, I’m sure you’ve had that one friend that’s like ‘why would you take an unpaid position?’ Turns out, a lot of students are in the same position as you. A 2017 NACE survey reported that roughly 60% of student respondents interned sometime during the duration of their academic career, with 43% of those students doing an unpaid internship.

Your response to your friend was something like “this internship will be worth it in the end when I land a job.’ But in 2013, NACE surveyed more than 9,200 seniors and “found that 63.1 percent of students with a paid internship under their belt had received at least one job offer. But only 37 percent of former unpaid interns could say the same — a negligible 1.8 percentage points more than students who had never interned.”

The study also found that “among students who found jobs, former unpaid interns were actually offered less money than those with no internship experience.”

How is that even possible?! This is true of paid vs unpaid interns, even with the same distribution of GPAs across a variety of fields, including business, communications, engineering, and political science.

The Good

• Unpaid internships are a good way to network and meet connections
• It’s a great way to get hands-on experience and grow your skills
• You can use the experience on your resume and your projects on your portfolio
• Your boss and co-workers can write you a future letter of recommendation in the field you are interested in
• It’s a great way to see what the average day looks like in the field you want to enter

The Bad

• The statistics above are a little unnerving
• A common complaint about unpaid internships is the fact that they target the students who can afford to do an unpaid internship for a couple months. With students graduating with an average of $29,000 in student debt, it can be tricky to work unpaid for a few months, especially if you are supporting yourself or a family. It also creates an unfair advantage for those who can get the highly needed experience in an experience-driven field
• Not everyone is lucky enough to land a paid internship
• Because you are not being paid, it can feel like the company might not invest the proper time in training and mentoring you vs if you were being paid causing you to feel devalued or a waste of time. However, this can happen at paid internships as well

Is it Worth It?

That’s hard to say. Even though the statistics sound depressing, we want to believe that if we work hard, good things will happen. For some, they felt undervalued at unpaid internships, for others, it was an amazing learning experience. For others, it was somewhere in the middle.

If you are thinking about doing an unpaid internship, how can you make sure it will be worth the time and lack of money? Ask questions. Ask lots of questions. When interviewing, ask questions like “what do you expect from an intern, what will be my assignments, what does the average day look like, is there room to grow and potentially become an employee?” Ask for other benefits like working from home or a more flexible schedule. Ask for a stipend at the end. Ask if there is any training you can get.

Most importantly, if you feel like you’re time isn’t being valued, tell them! Sure, some people don’t want to ask for more work, but this could be an opportunity to not only shine, but it may become the moment employers realize that interns want to learn and are capable of doing actual work.

Image credit: LUM3N