I have to disagree with you. I got paid for all my internships but not all my friends did (I did an engineering degree). Some of the best internships I heard about were unpaid. The paying ones are often paid because otherwise, no one would want them.

My best friend up in Canada did an unpaid internship with THE top advertising firm in the Atlantic provinces. He impressed them so much he ended up doing a major pitch for them as well as taking over a major account for the last two months. He started out doing paperwork....

He got offered a permanent position and paid internships at the end of the unpaid intership. He turned them down but he basically got offered a job with two years left before he finishes his degree.

You may start out as a gopher in some of these positions but you can quickly and easily turn it into something else. Initiative is key.

I went from gopher to THE only person trusted to set up and load zero-gravity experiments with an aerospace company (within four months). Why? My failure rate was next to nothing and my use of consumables was lower than anyone else.

Internships are what you make of them, not what they make of you.

 

I would offer these two items as my high points for an interview:

1. Learn about the company before the interview and be ready with questions for them. If they ask "any questions?" at the end and you say "no", you're out. Showing that you've done the research and are interested in the job enough to ask many questions is extremely important.

2. Be a personable, nice guy, especially when interviewing with people you will be directly working with. Probably the most important question on the interviewer's mind is "can I spend 8+ hours a day with this person and not want to kill myself?" In fact I just asked my boss what was the most important part of my interview and he said that my personality was the #1 key. He even told me that there were other candidates more qualified for the job, but everyone agreed they wouldn't "fit in" to the team very well.

As for general questions to be ready for, just do a google search for typical job interview questions and practice your answers. Do some mock interviews with a friend as well. It's easy to read a list of questions and rattle off answers, but when you're not holding anything in your hand and have to look someone in the eye, that's a different game altogether. (I realize this is a phone interview, but it's good practice anyway).

(I doubt they will ask this question) but your GPA is so low because you were trying to challenge yourself through college with classes that would not be easy As. As a result you did not get a 4.0 but you got a lot of valuable learning experience.

Finally, SPEAK SLOWLY.

 

Some organizations don't care that much about your GPA, while others zoom in on it. You may be shit out of luck, but if the original job writeup didn't give a minimum GPA, you're probably ok. I did not feel my GPA was a good representation of how I actually performed in college. I had a few horrible grades in my first two years which really hurt my average in the end. I simply pointed out that for the most part in my first two years, and for the entire last two and a half years when I actually took relevant courses, my grades were very good. A smart employer will look past the GPA as a single number. So, if you are in a similar situation, explain it to them. If you just get C's in everything, well I don't know what to suggest

 

70 million huh? LOL That struck me as pretty funny because you seemed to put it in there to show how awesome your company is but in reality it doesn't really matter.

Just my division of my company clears ~40 million......a month. Add to that the many other divisions, subsidiaries and joint ventures. Because the company I work for makes so much money does that make my knowledge any better than anyones else's on the board? What an asinine comment.

No big deal really, it just rubbed me the wrong way. Carry on...

 

A lot of internships are unpaid, it sucks but it's true.

I was never in a position to be able to take an unpaid internship, however I did find kick ass internships that were paid, and that helped me gain valuable experience in my chosen field of work.

It all comes down to the experience you'll gain, the fact of the matter is that companies know they can pay college students practically nothing (or nothing at all) and they'll still work for them, as long as the opportunity is good... you'll be hard to find a successful unpaid internship program that doesn't offer substantial career experience.

With regards to your low GPA, if you have a higher GPA in your core classes, say so. My GPA ranged from a 3.31 to a 4.0+, depending on which classes you asked about. This might help. Also, if you were working full-time and taking classes, or chose to take classes that were interesting/challenging as opposed to easy GPA boosters, say so as well.

However, if your GPA is low becuase you're lazy, better come up with an excuse.

 

And you just proved my point. You and your friend obviously had talent, and proved yourself, JUST LIKE ANY REGULAR NEW EMPLOYEE. There is NO reason why he didnt get paid, at least something. Like it or not, its pure exploitation.

 

[QUOTE=44Runner,Jan 31 2007, 10:59 AM] 70 million huh?

 

Yes, we had talent. However, I got paid. He didn't, and he arguably had more talent (he got a standing job offer - I merely got a short term contract for while I was in school). So I stand by my point - you may not get paid (at first), but you can still get a lot of great experience.

It's pure exploitation but it's a business not a charity.

That said, he worked for a charity this year for his second internship and got to fly around the world for free (Israel, South Africa, Europe, Russia, etc, etc) but only got a token sum ($250 a month, I think) as actual "salary" for those four months.

Businesses that take on interns aren't guaranteed to get something in return. Many of the interns are inexperienced, clueless, and/or uncertain of themselves. Most aren't really "worth" money until the end of their internship (or later internships)... If anything, most of them COST a business money when you take into account their lack of productivity (like many brand new, inexperienced employees in their first few months), the extra cost to the company due to office equipment and government taxes/benefits, and the training time charged against regular employees.

 

My GPA was not the greatest, although in my major it was close to 4.0 and well above 3.5 my last couple years. My answer was the truth. When I got to college it was my first time away from home, and being an immature teenager it was more interesting to me to skip class and play nintendo. After digging a whole for myself, I grew up, stopped wasting my parents money and got very good grades.


As for an internship being slave labor, sure. But some companies that people are dying to work for have the ability to make you do a several month unpaid audition. 3M was like that here when I got out of scool. You wanted to work for 3M because pay was good, lots of oppportunity, and they never lay off people.

But if this wis a run of the mill outfit you are inteviewing at, take the internship if offered, work very hard but also let them know on days when you will be unable to work because you have job interviews. If they like you they will make an offer and stop wasting your time, and you will be letting them know they only have so much time before you will get a real paying job.

 

i'd recommend a book on body language. it'll help you out on the interview.