Family Issues

When most people think of internships, they think of college students working their butts off all summer long to gain job experience. However, many internship opportunities offer year-long internships in finance, journalism, TV/film, advertising, engineering, technology and other fields. If students are considering waiting until they finish college to snap up these opportunities, they may find themselves out of luck, as most internship positions are only open to current students. With everyone touting the value of an internship and such fierce competition among current students, some kids are driven to extremes to make their dreams a reality.

There are many different kinds of internships for those who will work for free, but some wonder if the paying types have gone extinct. “We used to pay, but we’re not doing that anymore,” explained Tom Triozzi, senior VP of BellAtlantic. “We ask them to work for free for a great work experience.” In this economy, even the competition for unpaid student intern positions has become so fierce that the NY Times reported some students are actually paying for their unpaid internship positions! “It’s kind of crazy,” said David Gaston, director of the University of Kansas career center. “The demand for internships in the past 5, 10 years has opened up this huge market.” One student’s parents paid $8,000 to get him an unpaid internship at Ford Models this summer, which was an opportunity, his parents say, he wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.

The company they used is called “University of Dreams,” which specializes in making students’ intern dreams come true. “Students don’t have problems finding internships, students have problems getting internships,” explained Eric Normington, the company’s chief marketing officer. “We can secure those exclusive positions.” The $8,000 program promises guaranteed internship placement for the summer, eight weeks of housing, five meals a week, New York City tours and seminars. This year, the company placed 1,600 student interns in 13 cities world-wide. The student intern program is beneficial for employers because they get qualified prospects who show up ready to give the job their best shot because they’ve invested in the opportunity.

In addition to unpaid internships, there are still paid internship opportunities available. The most exclusive paid opportunities include the New York Times, NASA, the White House, Google, Microsoft, Nike, St. Jude Medical Hospital, Walt Disney, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Teach For America. Students can expect to work like dogs and fight off fierce competition for these positions, however. Yet given the increased importance in assembling “real world experience” prior to graduation, sitting around all summer long just simply isn’t wise.

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