Should I work for a non-profit or on-campus?

Anything to do with the traditional world of get a degree, get a job as well as its alternatives
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TopHatFox
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Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2013 10:07 pm
Location: FL; 25

Should I work for a non-profit or on-campus?

Post by TopHatFox »

I may have just secured a real life job offer with an (unpaid) internship with an NGO in Philadelphia. The job involves being a program director, public relations staff, organizing educational seminars for large audiences, and other potentially scary things. :P I would get 3.5k to participate via scholarship from my college ('course I'd use part of that for living expenses).

Pros: High skills and networking, Cons: Low net pay, maybe ~2k
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I've also secured a few paid internships on campus for the summer, which offer full free housing and an hourly $10-11 wage 40 hours a week. The tasks also include event organizing, volunteer management, and public speaking, but with less networking, and I'd be in my comfort zone a lot more. I'd earn a net ~5-6k here.

Pros: Higher pay, convenient, Cons: More in my comfort zone

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Still no job in the for-profit finance world. Onward.

bottlerocks
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Re: Should I work for a non-profit or on-campus?

Post by bottlerocks »

Would you pay the difference to acquire the skill development and networking that comes with the NGO job, if they could be obtained overnight?

henrik
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Re: Should I work for a non-profit or on-campus?

Post by henrik »

How long is "for the summer"? Hard to compare the 2k to an hourly wage without knowing the number of hours..
Also, do you like what the NGO in Philadelphia does?

TopHatFox
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Location: FL; 25

Re: Should I work for a non-profit or on-campus?

Post by TopHatFox »

henrik wrote:How long is "for the summer"? Hard to compare the 2k to an hourly wage without knowing the number of hours..
Also, do you like what the NGO in Philadelphia does?
8-10 weeks (so, not much $/hr). The NGO essentially balances the playing field between low-income to moderate-income people and financial institutions. So things like personal finance workshops, getting banks to negotiate better rates on loans and foreclosure contracts, organizing programs for this group of people, etc. Sounds interesting.

Miss Lonelyhearts
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Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2013 12:53 am

Re: Should I work for a non-profit or on-campus?

Post by Miss Lonelyhearts »

#1 is a better resume item, so if you aren't hard up, I'd take that. Likely to be a more interesting summer as well.

Gilberto de Piento
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Re: Should I work for a non-profit or on-campus?

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

I agree that #1 will look better on a resume. I generally don't give much credit to on campus jobs so #2 is less appealing.

Also, "Program Director" sounds like management experience which could be useful if you ever want a management job.

thrifty++
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Re: Should I work for a non-profit or on-campus?

Post by thrifty++ »

hmm I am not down for the unpaid internship. I think they can be exploitive. I think it would be of value if it was primarily educational for you. If it is more in a sense of you adding value for them rather than them adding value for you I would ditch it. I generally prefer to be paid and add money to my money machine so I would probably go for the paid option. From the sounds of things unpaid internships in the USA seem to be quite common and I think its so wrong unless the internship benefits you significantly more than a paid job would.

Miss Lonelyhearts
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Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2013 12:53 am

Re: Should I work for a non-profit or on-campus?

Post by Miss Lonelyhearts »

In principle I agree, but the OP is playing the intership game at an elite college and getting subsidized by his institution to do so. The difference in net benefit to him ($4,000) is likely to be outweighed by the improved professional contacts, networking potential in a new major city, and the enhanced resume line. As far as careerist concerns go, I believe this is a clear win.

Socially, the whole internship racket is as you describe, and I would add that students at non-elite colleges and those generally without the resources to work for free are badly served by the present model. Although I'll qualify this by saying that interns are basically "paid" in increased professional capital and career prospects, but that the organizations that employ them benefit unfairly from essentially assigning unpaid training.

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