For Love or For Money: Choosing Between Internships

So you've gotten a couple offers for the summer and, at least for the moment, things are going well. But just ask anyone who's recently been to jail. The freedom of choice can be the most cumbersome right of them all.

As a college student, you were probably forced to read that famous Robert Frost poem at one point in your life: "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood." Yeah, well, even if you aren't a Poetry major, choosing between internships can seem like choosing between two different career paths. But relax and realize there's no such thing as a "yellow wood." You're not in a life or death situation, so take a moment to rationally weigh your options.

"Anytime I meet with a student who is evaluating multiple internships opportunities, I have them examine or take a look at their career goals and aspirations," says Matt Cardin, acting director for career services at Emerson College. "What are they looking to do when they graduate? What kind of experience are they looking to gain from an internship?"

Cardin suggests picking the internship that offers the most hands-on experience over the internship that just looks good on paper, but doesn't offer as much real world training. "If internship offer #1 will have the student answering phones, faxing, photocopying, filing and making Starbucks runs while internship offer #2 will provide the student with projects, tasks, assignments, a body of work, work samples or a portfolio of work that the student can point to in future interviews and say I worked on this project or I was assigned to complete this. Then internship #2 would be the student's best bet."

Avi, a former Brandeis University student who chose between offers at two rival radio stations, explains, "I was offered an internship at Sirius Radio, but since it was at a lone studio in Los Angeles, I thought there would be no opportunities to network. Plus the guy interviewing me seemed boring and lame." So he chose an internship with XM Radio in Washington DC. Though Satellite radio is obviously an inherently flawed industry, Avi made the right choice. Not knowing what his daily tasks at each job would be, he picked his internship based on networking possibilities and location.

These choices must also be made by recent graduates. Former Hampshire College student, Amelia, was offered an internship at a television production company and an assistant job at another production company. "I decided that the internship was better. It was at a better place, and I thought that I would go for the better opportunity, not the better job title." She is glad she made the decision she did. "It totally paid off," she says. "Just about every job I have had since then has been due to the connections I made during my internship."

Obviously there are many trade-offs: salary, location, responsibility, etc. But the point of an internship is to get a taste of the working world and help you get a full-time job that you're actually excited about after graduation. So if you're at a diverging road, choose the path you know will help you reach your professional goals. That will make all the difference.

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