There has been quite a bit of criticism and dialogue about unpaid internships, with news of lawsuits and outrage about companies getting full-time work for free or offering experiences that won’t do much for a young professionals resume or their career development.
So, it’s definitely good to know about the better side of that—top internships that help to balance the playing field, offering compensation, real-life experience and oftentimes, an actual gig lined up upon completion.
Check out these three awesome programs that promote diversity and actually pay you for your time while providing on-the-job training:
The NASCAR Diversity Internship Program (NDIP) identifies and engages top student talent across the country’s best colleges and universities. In addition to NASCAR, the 10-week summer program partners with key stakeholders to widen employment opportunities for young professionals, including sponsors, teams, race tracks and agencies. Jusan interned with Octagon—the marketing agency for one of our sponsors (Sprint), and out Touring and Weekly series at NASCAR which is racing at the grass roots level.
It’s a paid gig that includes focus areas such as licensing, communications, marketing, engineering, public affairs, diversity affairs, sales and sponsorships and event planning, among others. Stipend living is provided for interns in Daytona Beach, Florida and Charlotte, N.C.
For more information, visit http://www.nascardiversity.com/diversity_internships/default.aspx.
The SEO Careers Internship Program was first founded as a mentoring and college preparation program, lead by Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, for underprivileged high school students in New York City, and has now grown to provide thousands of underrepresented students of color with paid summer internships leading to full-time jobs. A large majority of past SEO interns at banks and global companies received an invitation to return to their host company or another SEO partner company. Interns earn competitive pay, get access to corporate leadership development resources and gain invaluable experience via mentorship and sponsorship initiatives.
For more information on the SEO Careers Internship Program, visit http://www.seocareer.org.
The Explore Microsoft Internship Program is for current college undergraduate minority students pursuing a degree in computer science or software engineering. The 12-week program is open to women, minorities (African American, American Indian, Hispanic) and gives students hands-0n experience in software development and exposure to the field of computer science, computer engineering, or related technical areas.
For more information on the Explore Microsoft Internship Program, visit http://careers.microsoft.com/careers/en/us/internships-explore-microsoft.aspx.