Since when did it become so impossible to find a paid internship? I'm trying to find one for the fall, but it seems like they don't exist anymore! I'm not looking to make millions, but I also can't afford to work for free. The time spent at an internship is time that I would be spending doing workstudy or working at some other p/t job. I can get credit for the internship, but it's only the equivalent of one class. So on top of interning, I also have a full schedule of classes. I'm looking everywhere, and most places don't even offer a stipend for travel and lunch. I know its good experience, but it's getting to the point where I really don't think I can afford to do it. As it is, I can barely afford the day-to-day expenses of going to college. Maybe I'm not looking in the right places...Any advice?

Interning is good, but maybe during the summer you have a better option of getting paid. It's pretty difficult to find anything that pays right now, unfortunately. I wanted to intern this summer, and was like "I WILL WORK FOR FREE" b/c I wanted to learn design. I directly contacted 13 places, calling to follow through and... they weren't hiring. EVEN for free, even a spectacular candidate like myself.

My advice is, if you can't find an internship, work experience is always good whether it's titled "internship" or "burger flipper." Something is always better than nothing, so if that means takin the pay, take the pay. I think I would be dead right now if I had taken an unpaid internship. I'm practically dead anyway, but that extra 5 cents I make at work makes me feel better.

what field are you interested in? direct contact really can work wonders (i.e. "i want to work at lincoln center. let me call lincoln center human resources."). Good luck!

I think that a large part of it depends on the field that you are going into. As far as I know, internships in fields like publishing or communications are generally unpaid while internships in something like chemistry are usually paid. Also, I'm sorry to say it, but summer is really the prime season for interning. Most large companies have intern programs that take a lot of students for 10 or 12 weeks in the summer and little or nothing else for the rest of the year.

Rather than looking specifically for an "internship", maybe you can just look for a job related to your field. Even if you are just answering phones and making coffee, you can at least say that you worked at Blah Blah Inc. It would also a good place to make connections for future interning or employment prospects.

Good luck.

this is one of my biggest peeves. like you, i couldn't afford to take on an unpaid internship position... i have to pay for college, you know ? but at the same time, a one credit internship is required by my degree. and it's in communications - normally unpaid.
i have a year to go before i have to do the internship, and ive been looking for possible positions since i knew i have to complete an internship. let's keep eachother posted on what we find, ok ?