Financially Inclined April 11, 2025 Transcript

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Yanely Espinal: What's up, everybody? I'm Yanely Espinal and this is Financially Inclined from Marketplace. We're sharing money lessons for living life your own way.

There are so many different jobs and careers out there, and it can be hard to figure out which one is right for you. That's the great thing about internships: they give you a chance to test out different options and gain first-hand experience. I tried out a lot of different things before I started my own business, and the internships that I had in high school and college really helped me figure out what I wanted and didn't want to do in the future. 

Today, I'm talking to early career coach and consultant Jade Walters about all things internships. Jade runs a blog and an Instagram account called The Ninth Semester, where she shares advice and career resources to help Gen Z find paid early career opportunities. So I know she'll have a lot of expert advice to share with you all. All right, let's get into it. 

Espinal: Okay, so Jade, let's start with the basics. What is an internship, and like how is it different from a job or like part-time work? 

Jade Walters: Yes, so an internship is usually a short-term experience. Basically, you're kind of like a junior employee, and you have the opportunity to work on particular projects for the summer, join team meetings, but it's essentially a big immersion experience for someone who say that they're trying to decide whether or not they want to work in your desired industry to get a glimpse for like a few months to see, is this something that they really want to do? 

Espinal: Nice. Now, I know you mentioned like the summer or like a certain period of time. I feel like a lot of people assume that getting an internship is like after you graduate college to try out like maybe the next job that you're going to get, but you can pretty much get an internship at other points earlier too, right? Like I remember when I was in high school, I had an internship my freshman year all the way through my junior year of high school at an architecture firm. So, and I didn't have to be a college graduate to get that internship and that's the case typically, right? 

Walters: Yes, so I've even seen internships for as early as like middle schoolers, but those are kind of like designed as like special programs like career discovery programs. And then they have similar programs like that in high school. I think the earliest where it's too early would be if you're in elementary school. 

Espinal: Yeah, that seems like a lot! One of the things that I wanted you to talk a little bit about was some of the benefits of doing an internship, especially when you're thinking about like, I don't know what career field or maybe I have an idea generally of like what I might want to do. But instead of just like trying to jump in and get a job, what are some of the benefits of starting with an internship first? 

Walters: I think the biggest benefit of having an internship is trying to discover, is what you want to do really what you want to do? Because I, for me, I went into college, I went to Howard University, I was a nursing major. I was very adamant in working in nursing. And then I changed my major into maternal and child health. And I did my first communications internship at Planned Parenthood. And I loved the work that I did. But I realized, I, I don't like working at a communications internship. So then my next internship was in marketing at a book publishing company. And then I realized I love marketing. And because I had these different internships, the biggest thing I try to remind students is that with the internship, you kind of already know, okay, I have this window of time to figure out, is this what I want to do? And you don't feel like you're trapped in it. You have that opportunity to explore. And especially as a college student, you can do an internship in the spring, in the summer, sometimes the winter. So you have all these opportunities in the year to kind of like dabble, and I like to say, like go on little side quests with your career and figuring out what is the path that you want to follow? 

Espinal: Yeah, I love that. It's like “try before you buy” or like try before you commit to this job, right? I like that because it does also help you eliminate things. Like I remember when I did an internship at a museum, I was like, “I am bored out of my mind.” Like I was sitting at the phone calling, begging for fundraising, and I just felt like that's not what I thought it was gonna be. I thought I was gonna be doing museum tours and bringing kids in for school trips and talking to people from the community and learning about art. And it was really not what I expected. So I do think it opens your eyes and a lot of times it helps you realize something that you might not wanna do. Like you said, to like eliminate things and realize, is this really what I wanna do? This isn't really what I thought it was gonna be like. So you get to, again, like try before you buy. 

Walters: Yes, I love that. Try before you buy. Internships have evolved over the time to where a lot of programs they have built in mentorship. So your mentor may be someone that's on your team or just someone at the organization. There are intern activities, which I love because it really gives you a chance to network with other people who you guys share that same common goal and common interest. And then there's always usually like an end of internship project. So it's a project that you're working on throughout your entire internship. And in that last week, you present it, whether it's to your entire internship cohort or just the team that you spent the summer working with. 

Espinal: Okay, so let's talk about research because I feel like, you know, you can't just jump into any internship program. You have to really look for opportunities that are gonna be a good fit for you, but it can be overwhelming 'cause there's a lot of stuff online, a lot of places to look. Do you have any of your like go-to resources or favorite sites or apps or programs that you would recommend for somebody who's like a student who's starting to look for internship programs now? 

Walters: Yes, so if you're in high school, my biggest recommendation are starting with your state's directory, because a lot of states, they have specific departments for career services, and they may have a curated list of internships in that city or state for high school students. Or they may have their own program. Like I grew up in New York City and they have the Summer Youth Employment Program. That is how I landed some of my first few early career opportunities. But honestly if you type in “high school internships” and then you have your city, you're going to see a lot of those programs because sometimes it can be at larger organizations such as Microsoft and Linkedin who have programs for high school students or it could be at non-profit organizations that are in your city. And then when it comes to college age and in post grad students, there are a lot of platforms. Some of my favorites, WayUp, Handshake, Jobwell, and if you're someone who you're looking for more short term, like even shorter than an internship, I would recommend sites such as Parker Dewey and Extern. Parker Dewey has micro internships, which are usually like maybe four to six weeks long. And then Extern has remote externships where you're kind of working on a project for a particular company. So with these platforms, you can go on them and create an account and share your interests, who you are and what you're looking for. And they will regularly send these opportunities to your email, to your inbox. And it just makes the process easier 'cause you're going onto these sites knowing that there are gonna show opportunities for students like you. 

Espinal: Okay, so one thing I know a lot of students are dealing with is that they will get multiple internship offers, which is a good problem to have. But do you have any tips for, like, thinking of specific factors when you're making that decision about which internship to choose? 

Walters: Yes, so number one, definitely consider is this internship aligned with your career goals and making sure that it’s something that you can see yourself doing whether short-term or long-term. Another factor is location, especially if this internship may be in a different city or state that you live in. And then the final factor would definitely be pay. Is it unpaid? If it is paid, how much is it paid? Is it gonna be enough to sustain you? So those are some important things to consider. 

Espinal: Yep. Okay, so now let’s talk about a hot topic because I feel like unpaid internships, they're like, “I'm not going to be working for no pay.” And I think like back in the day, this was very common that like you would run around and grab coffee for people and you wouldn't get paid. And that was just what an internship was. But I feel like now things have kind of like evolved a little bit and a lot of people expect to be paid, even if it is an internship, what's your take on unpaid internships? Do you feel like it's even worth it nowadays? 

Walters: I am very pro paid internships, so on my blog The Ninth Semester, I only share paid internships because I believe that no matter how much experience that you have, you deserve to be paid for your experience. If that company is unable to pay you, your university may have some sort of money in the budget to be able to help you with this during that time and provide you with some sort of stipend. So if you have an unpaid internship, I would recommend your next step is going to your university, specifically your career center and seeing if they have some sort of scholarship or housing grant in place for students like you. So that way you're still getting paid for your time and for the summer. 

Espinal: So let's talk a little bit about like when you are actually starting your first internship. What top tips would you give someone who is now a brand new intern? 

Walters: Yeah, so for those who are in your first internship, the number one tip is to soak it all in. It is a short-term experience, so you want to make sure that you are immersing yourself in every area as possible. Next is to not be afraid to take initiative. If there's a project that you're interested in, feel free to raise your hand, or if there's coffee chats that you want to schedule with someone on the team that you're very interested in learning more about their role, definitely don't be afraid to ask. Number three: network horizontally. Usually in an internship program you’re going to be with other interns. Get to know them. This is now your network, this is now your professional network, too. So chat with them, get to know how their experience is, and see how you can learn from each other. And my fourth tip is, to not be afraid to be that intern who has a lot of questions. Because in your internship, they're expecting you to ask questions, they are not afraid to answer your questions. And for you, especially an internship as you're trying to navigate is this is something that you want to do long-term, ask all the questions that you had, especially when you're in a safe space to do so. And then another final thing is to take a lot of notes. Like I remember my senior year internship. I was just taking down notes on every single thing, every fun fact, every conversation I was having. And then I went back at the end of the day and I would just review all my notes and review all the things that I learned because you're learning so much in that short time period that you don't even realize until you go back and reflect. So write it all down, soak it all up. And don't be afraid to just show your eagerness and willingness to learn. 

Espinal: Yeah, I love that.

Espinal: For our Learn More segment today, I want to dig a little deeper into networking, which as Jade explained, is a really important part of an internship. First, when you reach out to somebody that you're interested in talking to, be specific about what you want to discuss. Ask for a set period of time, like 15 or 30 minutes, and make it easy for them. Suggest meeting at a specific location that's gonna be convenient for them, or if you're working remotely, you could set up a call on the phone or a Zoom meeting. The day before you’re scheduled to meet with them, reach out again just to confirm the details. And make sure you do your research on their professional background and recent projects, like if they wrote an article recently or if they gave a guest talk somewhere, check it out so that way you can bring it up. Prepare specific questions and give personal context. And you should ask them for actionable suggestions, like are there resources that you should look into or are there people that you should be reaching out to? Lastly, follow up with a thank you note. You can send them an email or you can hand them a physical card when you see them later on that day or that week. To show how it's done, our Marketplace intern Katie's here to demonstrate. So we're going to now go into a role play about a networking chat. 

Katie Reuther: Hey, Yanely. Thanks for making time to get coffee with me. I really appreciate it. 

Espinal: Oh, yeah, Katie, I'm honestly, I'm so glad you reached out to me because I know you've been working with us for a few months already. I have been meaning to reach out to you, but things are just so intense, right? So I'm really glad you took initiative, but yeah, tell me what did you want to talk about?

Reuther: So I was watching some of your older YouTube videos when you were sharing money tips from your bedroom before this was your full-time job. And I'm really curious to learn a bit more about how you turned your passion project into a career. I'm trying to do something similar with a video project that I'm working on. And I'd really love your advice. Specifically, I'm trying to figure out how to monetize my videos. And I'm not sure if that's something that you have experience with? 

Espinal: Yeah, definitely. I mean, I'm happy to share what I've learned. Let's start with like, what are you working on? Tell me a little bit about your video project. 

Reuther: Okay, yeah, so I started a video series reviewing single origin chocolate bars. I got really into chocolate…

Espinal: Okay, so you see how Katie came prepared? She took initiative to schedule a meeting with me. She familiarized herself with my work beforehand and she came to me with specific questions. She told me the personal context for why she wanted my advice and that kind of made me want to root for her and do whatever I can to help her. But most importantly, she was respectful and confident. Later on that day, she even sent me a very professional email. Well done, Katie.

Okay, thanks for listening to today's episode with Jade Walters about all things internships. I hope this provided helpful guidance on finding and landing internships to help you explore your career options. I know you got this. 

And if you have any questions for us or you want to share your own story, our email is financiallyinclined@marketplace.org.

Financially Inclined is brought to you by Marketplace from American Public Media, in collaboration with Next Gen Personal Finance. I’m your host, Yanely Espinal. Our Senior Producer is Zoë Saunders. Our Video Editor is Francesca Manto, and our Graphics Artist is Mallory Brangan. The podcast was edited by Katie Reuther. Gary O’Keefe is our Sound Engineer. Bridget Bodnar is the Director of Podcasts. Francesca Levy is the Executive Director. Neal Scarbrough is the VP & General Manager of Marketplace. Our theme music is by Wonderly.

Financially Inclined is funded in part by the Sy Syms Foundation, partnering with organizations and people working for a better and more just future since 1985. And special thanks to the Ranzetta Family Charitable Fund and Next Gen Personal Finance for continuing to support Marketplace in its work to make younger audiences smarter about the economy.