Mine is. Research too. Thinking they will just work at a restaurant this summer

My kid is a Junior in college.

He has been interning during summer since end of Freshman year.

He has applied for each internship like it was a job search. Each year he has applied to 250+ internships and heard back only from only 1 or 2 each year. 3.9 gpa kid in CS. Solid skills. CS is brutal. However, for the past two years, he has also got call back offers from companies he has interned with.

So, yes, terrible economy. But, when it is a terrible economy, then you need to dig in and get more skills. Even if it means working without pay.

Parents, guardians and relatives need to support these students as best as they can so that their future is bright, even if their present is hard.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine got a very prestigious sounding internship in her major field but it's unpaid. I thought that was illegal and companies have to either pay at least minimum wage or the kid gets college credit?

I'm staying out it and kid is trying to figure out another (paying) summer job to earn some money, but was just curious.

No, internships do not have to be paid. Unpaid internships have been around forever.

That's not accurate. Internships with for-profit firms MUST be paid, or they violate minimum wage laws. Internships with gov't or non-profits can be unpaid.

Know of a junior who got repeat summer internship at Samsung only to have it rescinded

Anonymous wrote:Our economy is on the brink of collapse. Internships are absolutely not the priority for anyone right now with so much chaos and uncertainty across all industries. Our kids will be graduating into the worst employment environment , maybe ever. These poor kids missed half their high school years due to COVID and now President Musk is tanking the country.

Most of this is simply not true.

The biggest problem for college graduates is that they have been pushed for decades to believe that engineering jobs were unlimited and well paid. The job market is over saturated with engineers and software developers at this point.

Meanwhile there’s a shortage of teachers, nurses, accountants, etc.

If your kid chose their major wisely, they should be able to get an internship.

Anonymous wrote:Mine got a very prestigious sounding internship in her major field but it's unpaid. I thought that was illegal and companies have to either pay at least minimum wage or the kid gets college credit?

I'm staying out it and kid is trying to figure out another (paying) summer job to earn some money, but was just curious.

Unpaid internships have always been a thing. They can get a job lifeguarding in their spare time.

Mine still doesn't have one and doesn't seem to be trying very hard.

Anonymous wrote:Mine got a very prestigious sounding internship in her major field but it's unpaid. I thought that was illegal and companies have to either pay at least minimum wage or the kid gets college credit?

I'm staying out it and kid is trying to figure out another (paying) summer job to earn some money, but was just curious.

No, internships do not have to be paid. Unpaid internships have been around forever.

Our economy is on the brink of collapse. Internships are absolutely not the priority for anyone right now with so much chaos and uncertainty across all industries. Our kids will be graduating into the worst employment environment , maybe ever. These poor kids missed half their high school years due to COVID and now President Musk is tanking the country.

Anonymous wrote:Mine got a very prestigious sounding internship in her major field but it's unpaid. I thought that was illegal and companies have to either pay at least minimum wage or the kid gets college credit?

I'm staying out it and kid is trying to figure out another (paying) summer job to earn some money, but was just curious.

They should see if their college has a fund to pay students who take unpaid internships

Mine got a very prestigious sounding internship in her major field but it's unpaid. I thought that was illegal and companies have to either pay at least minimum wage or the kid gets college credit?

I'm staying out it and kid is trying to figure out another (paying) summer job to earn some money, but was just curious.

My Junior hasn’t either but hasn’t sent out near enough applications

My Junior hasn’t secured an internship.

Lots of college kids whose government internship was impacted by the federal hiring freeze. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/students/careers/2025/02/07/hiring-freeze-cancels-internships-federal-agencies#:~:text=The%20hiring%20freeze%20appears%20to,outlet%20like%20Reuters%20and%20Law360.
Kristin Comrie is set to graduate this semester with a master’s in health informatics from a fully remote program that she balances with a full-time job. But the federal hiring freeze has thrown a wrench into her plans, prompting the Veterans Health Administration to cancel her unpaid internship, which she needed to fulfill a graduation requirement.

It wasn’t easy to find an opportunity that fit in with her job and schoolwork, but the VHA internship sounded ideal; she could work remotely, and the team at the VHA seemed happy to accommodate her busy schedule. Slated to start Feb. 10, she had just finished her background check and fingerprinting when she received notice that the internship had been canceled.

“I got a generic email that they were rescinding the offer because of the federal hiring freeze,” Comrie recalled.

These kids’ future seems so bleak lately