Believe it or not, an unpaid internship is doable
I was broke but I survived
You’ve heard it from campus advisors, guidance counselors, career coaches, and business professionals a million and one times in your lifetime.
If you want to get a job after graduation, you need experience. And if you want experience, you need an internship. But what if you land that internship and it’s unpaid? How do you cope financially? How do you manage to keep a social life and have fun but have no money coming in?
This summer, I landed an internship with the Connecticut Tigers minor league baseball team, the Class A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. Needless to say, it was right up my alley. I’m a sports broadcasting major, and this internship allowed me to get firsthand exposure to what it’s like working in professional baseball. On game days, I worked 13-14 hour days prepping before and after the game to put on the best game atmosphere for our fans.
Surprise, surprise, I didn’t get paid a cent.
Needless to say, if you are like me and have no other means of income coming in, you need to be frugal with your money. Luckily, I had an on-campus job all year long prior to getting the internship, so I had a solid base of money locked up. When I was almost two months into my internship, I noticed my bank account slipping downward at a somewhat scary rate, but not enough to put me in the poor house. I was on a budget since my start date in May. I wasn’t making big purchases to concerts every other weekend like I used too, nor was I making any long, weekend road trips that ate up the gas in my car. I went to Walmart about every other week for food and eat breakfast, lunch and dinner with the food I bought. I never ate out.
Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t completely limit the fun in my life. I bought a Florida Georgia Line ticket, and spent the night with my best friends. I still visited my local friends and had normal weekends doing everything that college kids do. I was still paying my car payments and my gym membership. I just wasn’t making any big purchases.
So if I can give those people with unpaid internships some advice, it is this: try to have a solid base of money available prior to getting your internship that you can live on for a few months. If you are already in debt from last semester, an unpaid internship is probably not for you and you should consider getting a summer job that pays. Or if you’re the lucky kid that has parents throwing money at you, by all means, take advantage. Not all of us are that lucky.
Sydney Arruda, A UConn senior marketing major, had an unpaid internship at PR Consulting, a fashion PR firm in New York City.
“I knew taking the internship would be worth it because of the experience, and being passionate about fashion,” Sydney said. “Luckily it was only a part time internship so I was able to have a part time job, too. I definitely needed it because I had to commute to NYC from Connecticut with train and subway fares.”
Sydney said things got a little expensive but her part time job covered those expenses.
“It was tough, but I made it work. If it wasn’t for the part time job, I wouldn’t of been able to pull it off,” she said.
Like Sydney, Matt Janco, a UConn sophomore marketing major, had an unpaid internship with a part time job, as well.
“I’m interning with the Newtown, CT chamber of commerce doing a lot of clerical work,” Matt said. “But I also have a part time job at the local ice cream shop making pretty good money.”
Matt also commented on the fact that a lot of his intern work is doable at his home.
“Since a lot of the work is online, I can even do it around the ice cream shop,” Matt said.
Kathy Organza, a UConn senior communications major, has an unpaid internship in the Philippines working for P & G, a multinational consumer goods company.
“It’s unpaid but everything like housing and food is paid for,” she said. “I was lucky to have family that live in the area. Plus my mom gave me a little allowance money before I left the United States.”
Whether you have a part time job on the side, a financial stipend that pays for certain expenses, or learn to have to remain cautious with your money, an unpaid internship is DOABLE. Just be smart. Who knows, that unpaid internship might be your next full-time job.