I have to file a dissent with Dr. McCallum's opinion. Whether an unpaid
internship is worth it or not depends entirely on what measurement
endpoints you choose to evaluate them with. If you evaluate their worth
solely from a human resources department angle, his argument may make
sense. But if you evaluate their worth from other measures -- such as
personal growth -- you might come to a very different conclusion.
I did a lot of what you might call "unpaid internships" when I was an
undergrad (I called it volunteering). I have to say, those nights
sitting in the rain dozing off over a physiology book between runs to
check pitfall traps for salamanders and other creatures were some of the
most valuable fieldwork experiences I have had. (And I have had some
great ones over the years.)
Later,
Dave
On 8/16/2013 11:08 AM, malcolm McCallum wrote:
Some unpaid internships are worthy of your time. Most will not get
you any kind of experience of worth. Why? Because quality costs
money, and if you need quality you will find a way to pay for it.
That is not to say you cannot learn something valuable in an unpaid
internship, but hardly any employer considers unpaid experience as
experience. They typically say otherwise publicly, but in house its
only experience if someone is willing to pay you to do it. Paid
experience ALWAYS ranks higher than unpaid. Just like professorial
experience ranks higher than postdoctoral, and postdoctoral ranks
higher than graduate student experience. Likewise, you PHD trumps
your MS, and your MS trumps your BS. Its a rank in file. If you have
nothing else to do, you might try doing an unpaid intern. If you are
not getting pay, or a pub on your CV, its probably not worth your time
or effort.
--
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David M. Lawrence | Home: (804) 559-9786
6467 Hanna Drive | Cell: (804) 305-5234
Mechanicsville, VA 23111 | Email: [email protected]
USA | http: http://fuzzo.com
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"All drains lead to the ocean." -- Gill, Finding Nemo
"We have met the enemy and he is us." -- Pogo
"No trespassing
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