Not only do you get to see what goes on behind the scenes, you get to network. About 90 percent of the staff were once interns. Still, it doesn't take an M.B.A. for employers to realize interns are a ready source of cheap labor. One way to make use of your experience as an intern is to put together a portfolio of your work to show employers. She has learned how to assemble a professional portfolio of photos to show to agencies upon graduation.
Internships can be costly.
As well as the tuition, many interns must pay extra for housing and food in some of the world's most expensive cities. Although New York was the obvious choice for Miller, it came as a shock when the monthly rent on her one-bedroom apartment turned out to be twice what her brother was paying for a house back in Nashville. That's all the more reason for students to make sure they get what they pay for. Jeff Ignatowitz, a political science major at Rutgers, did have a learning contract, but he still had to speak up to get the assignments he wanted. When it became obvious that his work in New Jersey Rep. Bob Franks's office would consist mostly of filling flag requests and giving tours of the Capitol, he raised the matter in his weekly seminar.