I really value my unpaid intern experience. I work in film and went to school in NY, so while having paid internships sounded great, I found there really were not many paid options. By the time I graduated, I had completed six unpaid internships, and I did not have very financially supportive parents, so this meant a lot of weird part time jobs at odd hours and entire summers sleeping on friends' couches so I wouldn't have to pay rent. It was trying, and obviously some internships were more interesting than others, but I found it very beneficial. I had a job offer from one of my internships before I graduated, and I have tons of contacts who (at least sometimes) send my resume out when I am looking for the next show or project. I am now two years out of college and have had no more than a week between projects, and I think a lot of that has to do with how prepared I was because of my internships.
On What's an Unpaid Internship Worth?
I really value my unpaid intern experience. I work in film and went to school in NY, so while having paid internships sounded great, I found there really were not many paid options. By the time I graduated, I had completed six unpaid internships, and I did not have very financially supportive parents, so this meant a lot of weird part time jobs at odd hours and entire summers sleeping on friends' couches so I wouldn't have to pay rent. It was trying, and obviously some internships were more interesting than others, but I found it very beneficial. I had a job offer from one of my internships before I graduated, and I have tons of contacts who (at least sometimes) send my resume out when I am looking for the next show or project. I am now two years out of college and have had no more than a week between projects, and I think a lot of that has to do with how prepared I was because of my internships.