Why Intern?

The other Sarah at Marketing Strategies found this article that we thought would be interesting to address on the intern blog: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/08/14/sunday/main20092149.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody.

The article, titled "Internships: A foot in the door" explores the pros and cons of internships and their recent popularity. The interns they interviewed did not have a problem with working for free, and saw their internships as opportunities to gain valuable work experience, and maybe even a job.

Others, like Ross Eisenbry of the Economic Policy institute, disagree. Eisenbry fears that internships take away paying jobs from those who need them, and that most of the people who can afford to pay rent and still work for free are kids from the upper-middle class. His point was, if businesses can hire someone to work full time, and in some cases, longer than full time, why would they want to pay someone else?

Although Eisenbry has a good point, I believe most businesses aren't hiring now because they simply don't have the money. But if someone comes along and wants to work for free, they're not likely to turn them down.

I am a big proponent of internships. My high school had a great internship program; instead of going to classes on Wednesdays, we would go to internships. I interned on Capitol Hill my junior year, and graduated high school with a better resume than a lot of college students. I continued interning in college because I knew I would gain valuable work experience and would discover what I did, or definitely did not, want to pursue as a career. For instance, I caught the political bug on Capitol Hill, but learned I do not want to be a lawyer when I interned for the local Solicitor.

In today's economy, internships are many people's only options. I stumbled upon the Marketing Strategies internship while I was searching for a full time job. My problem was that I had no idea what kind of job I was working for, so I decided to give Marketing Strategies a shot. As it turns out, I now know that I want to pursue a career in public relations or communications, and I have a new direction in my job search. When it comes down to it, potential employers care more about solid work experience than a job title or salary. I have learned a lot from the internship, have gained a new skill set for my resume, and am very grateful for the opportunity!

Sarah