job advice
interesting meeting at the temp agency today. apparently they are looking for someone to fill an internship position with a best-selling author who is willing to train someone to be her research assistant and do some PR stuff as well. this would be "in your spare time" in addition to a regular job to pay the bills, and apparently the author does women's studies stuff. my plan has always been to get a job to pay the bills and then try to find a way into this field, which i figured would take a year minimum. so on the one hand, this could be an amazing opportunity to get experience doing this here in the area, to also do PR which could be useful for me, and to get connected to a community of researchers and writers through this author and the job. on the other hand, we're talking unpaid internship, which sounds kind of like blatant exploitation.
i'm torn -- one friend says it's flat-out exploitation, full stop; another says it's a great opportunity and i should jump on it; another says i should find out more info but that it might be worth my time, despite the lack of pay. obviously i need to find out more, and meet the author and make sure we get along, since that's key. i'm supposed to call the agency back on monday and i'd like to go in with a smart list of questions, and would like some help putting that together. or, if this is just taking advantage of naive labor, tell me to run the other way.
* obviously need more info on the author, the book she's working on, etc.
* how much time expected to put into this
* what specific kind of work expected, what kind of guidance offered, etc.
* aside from straight work experience, what does this internship get me (i.e., why is this better than an entry level job, why should i work for free?)
* is there a point at which it ceases to be an internship and becomes a job, if we both enjoy the partnership?
i'm also thinking that if i do this i'm more likely to want a job waiting tables, just to have a little more flexibility with my time, because it will probably be less important to have a desk-type job if i'm already getting direct experience in the field i want.
thoughts, advice?
i'm torn -- one friend says it's flat-out exploitation, full stop; another says it's a great opportunity and i should jump on it; another says i should find out more info but that it might be worth my time, despite the lack of pay. obviously i need to find out more, and meet the author and make sure we get along, since that's key. i'm supposed to call the agency back on monday and i'd like to go in with a smart list of questions, and would like some help putting that together. or, if this is just taking advantage of naive labor, tell me to run the other way.
* obviously need more info on the author, the book she's working on, etc.
* how much time expected to put into this
* what specific kind of work expected, what kind of guidance offered, etc.
* aside from straight work experience, what does this internship get me (i.e., why is this better than an entry level job, why should i work for free?)
* is there a point at which it ceases to be an internship and becomes a job, if we both enjoy the partnership?
i'm also thinking that if i do this i'm more likely to want a job waiting tables, just to have a little more flexibility with my time, because it will probably be less important to have a desk-type job if i'm already getting direct experience in the field i want.
thoughts, advice?