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It really is not much of a stretch to do internships and graduate in four years. The right part time job on campus or work study could even be relevant experience depending on your major.
There is in-lies the rub, how do you land the right work-study, job on campus for your post-grad job? Not every job is available to being relevant experience to every job. Counts as experience but may not for each and every job if the criteria is narrow like some employers do. That doesn't help many college graduates find the post-grad job market unwelcoming.
Big issue is that most college students don't do serious internships (or enough internships). Internships are essentially jobs. The more experience you can get under your belt in college, the easier it is to get a full time job after college.
I interned at a Fortune 100 company for a year long program during my Jr year. Worked 2 days per week, went to class the other 3 days. Between that and another smaller internship my Sr year, I had 5 offers within weeks of graduation in 2012. Oh. And my GPA was only 3.1 from a small liberal arts school.
Experience trumps grades.
I think you are completely right, experience , connections will get you the job more so than any degree or grade will (though you still need the degree, still need to graduate at the very least). I also think internships are awesome and if one applied to an internship, got in, he/she would be crazy not to take the internship.
My issue on internships though is they are incredibly competitive at least the paid ones. You where able to intern at a fortune 100 company, what was your major, did you have letters of recommendations, how stiff was the competition to land the internship? If you did not get the paid internship be it for a Fortune 100 company or something smaller what would you have done?
Since February, march I have applied to countless paid internships, the PSE&G, UPS, Verizon, federal home loan back of NY, small IT companies and aside from the occasional phone interview I was not able to land a paid internship. As I said earlier, paid internships are awesome and one would be foolish to turn it down.
That then brings the issue to unpaid internships. Legality/illegality aside often for the student this is the only way to get experience in the field. Not every accounting major is going to land the internship at Ernst and Young, not every English Major is going to land the internship at Random House, not every Anthropology major is going to land the internship/summer job at The museum of natural history and etc...For many unpaid may be the only way "in".
My take on unpaid internships is, if you can afford to go unpaid (parents don't mind, you don't mind, money is not a glaring issue)then go for it. Though one has to wonder that with all the attention towards whether unpaid internships are legal or not, companies may do away with unpaid internships all together. Which would be a real shame since we all know the great catch 22 "I can't get hired cause I don't have experience, yet how can I get experience if no one will hire me in the first place"- that experience often comes from unpaid work, and if unpaid internships go away because employers fear that "unpaid internships are illegal" then I have no idea how the heck people are suppose to get experience.
For those who are able to land the paid internships, great I am truly happy for you. The bigger issue in my eyes are those who did not land the paid internship.
I think you are completely right, experience , connections will get you the job more so than any degree or grade will (though you still need the degree, still need to graduate at the very least). I also think internships are awesome and if one applied to an internship, got in, he/she would be crazy not to take the internship.
My issue on internships though is they are incredibly competitive at least the paid ones. You where able to intern at a fortune 100 company, what was your major, did you have letters of recommendations, how stiff was the competition to land the internship? If you did not get the paid internship be it for a Fortune 100 company or something smaller what would you have done?
Since February, march I have applied to countless paid internships, the PSE&G, UPS, Verizon, federal home loan back of NY, small IT companies and aside from the occasional phone interview I was not able to land a paid internship. As I said earlier, paid internships are awesome and one would be foolish to turn it down.
That then brings the issue to unpaid internships. Legality/illegality aside often for the student this is the only way to get experience in the field. Not every accounting major is going to land the internship at Ernst and Young, not every English Major is going to land the internship at Random House, not every Anthropology major is going to land the internship/summer job at The museum of natural history and etc...For many unpaid may be the only way "in".
My take on unpaid internships is, if you can afford to go unpaid (parents don't mind, you don't mind, money is not a glaring issue)then go for it. Though one has to wonder that with all the attention towards whether unpaid internships are legal or not, companies may do away with unpaid internships all together. Which would be a real shame since we all know the great catch 22 "I can't get hired cause I don't have experience, yet how can I get experience if no one will hire me in the first place"- that experience often comes from unpaid work, and if unpaid internships go away because employers fear that "unpaid internships are illegal" then I have no idea how the heck people are suppose to get experience.
For those who are able to land the paid internships, great I am truly happy for you. The bigger issue in my eyes are those who did not land the paid internship.
There are about a million unpaid internships in America according to Huffington Post. That is not saying if the internship is legal. There is no stats to see how many of the unpaid jobs are legal or not. But if they are indeed illegal they may still be legitimately unpaid.
Quote:
Are unpaid internships illegal?
The tests being hinted at there — of whether an internship provides valuable training and whether it benefits the firm or the intern more — reflect the reasoning of a 2010 fact sheet put out by the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Divison, which enforces these laws. That fact sheet sets up six criteria to determine if an internship is legal or not:
The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment;
The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern;
The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff;
The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded;
The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship; and
The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.
If an employer can prove these are the case, I think the unpaid work will still stand. The issue now is many people use it as cheap work where they can cut workers who are working for no many and pay expenses to commute and live and hire new ones for no pay rather than hiring paid employees. Just look at the Black Swan case that brought about the who question if they are legal or not. Read more here.
It really is not much of a stretch to do internships and graduate in four years. The right part time job on campus or work study could even be relevant experience depending on your major.
Yep. Older students are often balancing college with their day job and the responsibilities of a family; it's certainly not unrealistic for a younger student to take on internships while in college.
There are about a million unpaid internships in America according to Huffington Post. That is not saying if the internship is legal. There is no stats to see how many of the unpaid jobs are legal or not. But if they are indeed illegal they may still be legitimately unpaid.
If an employer can prove these are the case, I think the unpaid work will still stand. The issue now is many people use it as cheap work where they can cut workers who are working for no many and pay expenses to commute and live and hire new ones for no pay rather than hiring paid employees. Just look at the Black Swan case that brought about the who question if they are legal or not. Read more here.
At this point, if money was not an issue I would take the unpaid internship, illegal or not, blah blah, I need the experience, this is my only way to "get the foot in the door" so il take the unpaid internship. And I understand the whole argument about whether the internship is for the experience of the intern, interns do not replace regular employees, interns being a free source of labor so I can cut regular employee hours etc... but again if my only way to break into the field is via the unpaid internship, then in all likelihood I will do the unpaid.
It is a sucky situation and I don't know what the perfect solution is. Everyone says get an internship and that's great and I agree, but if you don't get one then what?
At this point, if money was not an issue I would take the unpaid internship, illegal or not, blah blah, I need the experience, this is my only way to "get the foot in the door" so il take the unpaid internship. And I understand the whole argument about whether the internship is for the experience of the intern, interns do not replace regular employees, interns being a free source of labor so I can cut regular employee hours etc... but again if my only way to break into the field is via the unpaid internship, then in all likelihood I will do the unpaid.
It is a sucky situation and I don't know what the perfect solution is. Everyone says get an internship and that's great and I agree, but if you don't get one then what?
The issue is, if it is illegal it is illegal. There is no middle ground. If a company cannot offer an unpaid internship without it being illegal, maybe they shouldn't offer one. You can have an unpaid internship that is legal if it follows that criteria. If it doesn't, it is illegal and should be a paid position.
The issue is, if it is illegal it is illegal. There is no middle ground. If a company cannot offer an unpaid internship without it being illegal, maybe they shouldn't offer one. You can have an unpaid internship that is legal if it follows that criteria. If it doesn't, it is illegal and should be a paid position.
I agree, IF the unpaid internship meets the requirements of being illegal then it is illegal there is no grey area and the employer should not offer it. However more than likely the student applying for the internship does not know if it is legal or not and he may not even care if the internship is legal or not. He is only interested in getting the internship because he needs the experience. The legality or illegality of the internship will come later or not at all because the mindset is "I need experience and this is the only place willing to give it to me".
I highly doubt that a would-be intern for an unpaid internship is going to go up to the employer and say:
"Yes il gladly take the internship but first I need to know, will I be replacing any regular employee? Will the internship be meaningful to me? etc... "
I agree, IF the unpaid internship meets the requirements of being illegal then it is illegal there is no grey area and the employer should not offer it. However more than likely the student applying for the internship does not know if it is legal or not and he may not even care if the internship is legal or not. He is only interested in getting the internship because he needs the experience. The legality or illegality of the internship will come later or not at all because the mindset is "I need experience and this is the only place willing to give it to me".
I highly doubt that a would-be intern for an unpaid internship is going to go up to the employer and say:
"Yes il gladly take the internship but first I need to know, will I be replacing any regular employee? Will the internship be meaningful to me? etc... "
They know it is unpaid, sure. If they do not and find out during the negotiation/acceptance phase of the interview, maybe they will or ask if it leads to a full-time opportunity.
The key to his success will be his willingness to continue to learn new technologies and not get comfortable in any one job or role during his career. IT has a lot of change and he best be willing to roll with those changes. If he is willing to deal with that, he will be fine.
There is in-lies the rub, how do you land the right work-study, job on campus for your post-grad job? Not every job is available to being relevant experience to every job. Counts as experience but may not for each and every job if the criteria is narrow like some employers do. That doesn't help many college graduates find the post-grad job market unwelcoming.
And not every one can afford to work for free (unpaid internships)
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