Internship for money?

During my years working in educational institutions, I often come across teachers and administrators lamenting about students who chose internships based on either the money or the name. (I have also encountered students who chose their internship based on the location of the company.)
Their laments are not unfounded. It appears that the choice are rather straight forward to students: They’ll either choose to do their internship at an unknown, small company with high pay OR at a well-known, big company with little or no pay.

The rationale is this: “Since working in an unknown, small company will not add colour to your resume then you should at least benefit from the pay. And since working in a big, well-known firm will make my resume more colourful, then it doesn’t matter whether they pay me much now because I will benefit much from it later on.”

Such a rationale seem to be based on several assumptions:

1. There’s nothing to learn in small companies.
2. There’s a great deal to learn in big companies.
3. Future employers look for only big names in resumes.

Here are some facts in the real-world:

1. Employers look for experience AND achievements in those experiences. Having worked in big companies without much achievements says nothing about you.
2. Employers look for people who can solve problems wherever they are.
3. Willingness to take on internships in an industry of your choice regardless of the company size or name says that you are a thoughtful and self-directed person who thinks long terms and knows what you want.

In the final analysis, the purpose of internships is for exposure, experience, networking, learning and practice. NOT money. This is especially important for freshgraduates or would-be graduates in this current economic condition where having choices is a luxury.
Make full use of your internships whichever company you may be in. Ensure that you help to solve problems, attain significant achievements and build a wide network of industry contacts. These are elements that will make you competitive for the job market. The benefits from these will outstrip the internship allowance that you receive.