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How College Students Can Gain an Edge in the Job Hunt

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As a college senior, I have found it impossible to find internships that will pay as much as I make at my retail job. Most internships are either completely unpaid or pay in the form of a scholarship that ends up equaling below minimum wage. Not everyone can afford to take those internships. I live with my parents and still struggle to keep up with all the bills i have to pay: car insurance, car repairs, tuition, food, gas, etc. Also, my parents work multiple jobs just to keep a roof over our heads. They cannot contribute money to either mine or my brother's education. Many college students now have to work a full time job and go to school full time. It's not like we can simply drop our only source of income for an internship that won't pay us what we need to survive. I would happily take a volunteer internship, if I actually had the time to spare.

Ashley of IN 10:06AM November 09, 2010

I achieved a bachelor's in Accounting, but it took working a full time job in a warehouse to be able to afford school, rent and books. There was no time for some unpaid/ low pay internship that the professors only advertised to the "A" students.
Give some credit to the students who worked their tail off to get the job done. Stop catering to the rich kids that have mommy and daddy paying their way through school and you might get some people with decent work ethic.

Nick of LA 10:38AM August 20, 2010

Just skip college altogether. Seriously. I have a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, and throughout my four years of college, I cared for a member of my family with Alzheimer's Disease. It's kind of impossible to work any kind of schedule when you're balancing a full load at school and have an incontinent, severely confused person at home preventing you from ever getting more than 3 hours of sleep a day. Now that I have the degree, I can't even get minimum wage or blue collar jobs, much less college-graduate level employment. I wish I had never bothered with college, and just taken a minimum wage job right out of High School. I would be in a better position financially than I am now!

UNLVDC8 of NV 8:22PM June 08, 2009

Being an MBA graduate I have been seeking volunteer work for some time but all that is available is low-level/entry work not related to what I want to move into - and even then they don't want you!
I am willing to work for free after hours (I get off at 3pm from my full time job) even if it is for a couple of hours! I have yet to find one taker! I am NOT looking for a job because I have a full time job! I am just seeking experience! So if companies are hurting so badly as they claim then why are they so unwilling to take on free help?!? In the words of Buggs Bunny "There's something screwy going on around here!"

Scott of FL 7:18AM June 02, 2009

First of all -- I'm quite surprised by your experience, since I teach college and about 90% of my students have at least a part-time job. Is it posible that they're advised not to put those jobs on their resumes?
Second -- I have a basic objection to internships, because so many of them are unpaid. As a result, the students who can afford not to have a job get an advantage, while the smart, ambitious and poor student spends the summer juggling three or four jobs to make enough to pay the rent.
If employers continue to see unpaid internships as equivalent to actual work experience, they really can't complain about the employees they hire that have an attitude of entitlement.

PhilosopherP of MN 5:55PM June 01, 2009

Wholeheartedly agree, especially in the current economy since it's harder to land *anything*. The good part is that more colleges today see how much value internships have in smoothing the road to the working world after the studying is finished. If an internship is not mandated as part of your college course of study, you should make it a point to fit at least one during your college years.

Rick Saia of MA 4:42PM June 01, 2009