A summer job or internship is an integral part of college life. It has become a huge deal on every single college campus everywhere in the country and sometimes even high school.

Are the positives of a summer job or internship really worth it? Are there any negatives to a summer job or internship? The answer to those questions is yes.

On the website The Outreach Interns, three interns named Emma, Hannah and Nicole point out the positives of a summer internship: you get hands-on work experience; you work on a variety of tasks and projects; you get an opportunity to work with a wide range of people, and you get a chance to develop.

I understand there is a lot of the stereotypical ‘you-go-fetch-me-some-coffee’ spiel with all interns. According to The Outreach Interns, this is most certainly not the case.

What about the negatives? Are there significant negatives to any internship? The website Inside the College Experience shares significant downsides to working a summer internship.

A summer internship takes up a lot of free time, so you have to have an open time schedule. If you are taking summer classes, this can easily interfere with your education. There is also the fear that you may second guess the current career path after getting a taste of what it will be like in the real world. This could lead to confusion as to what a student wants to do with their life.

When looking at summer jobs and comparing them, there are distinct similarities. Both will give you hands-on work experience and will require a lot of free time. According to iMOM, the pros and cons of working a summer job are a little different.

Summer jobs are harder to find these days, and the school break is much shorter than it used to be. You may also need the summer for school work and may not be able to juggle both at once.

The Tennessean Newspaper published an article giving positives to having a summer job. Even if you don’t get the job, completing job applications and interviewing are valuable lessons. A job also makes you feel more independent.

When analyzing the positives and negatives of a summer job or internship, it’s clear that they are indeed worth looking into. It is extremely important to further your career and get hands-on work experience, especially in this day and age.

An internship will give you the chance to see if whether or not you really want to remain in this field. Sure you won’t get a whole lot of free time, but in the long run it will make you more valuable as an employee.

To put it plainly, a summer job or internship will go a long way in making sure you have a long and stable career.