So Ivanka Trump recently made her unpaid interns share tips on surviving an unpaid internship. I have a few tips of my own.
Tip One: Save up.
First you’re going to want to get your hands on a time machine. Go back in time and start saving every cent. You might want to go back to before you were born and start then.
When you get to college, you’re going to need thousands upon thousands of dollars for tuition, living expenses, and your unpaid internship. Oh, and hey, if you are going to earn credit for your unpaid internship, you’ll actually need money to PAY to work for free. Best to get going on that early.
If, through the course of your life, your family ever falls on hard times- maybe an unexpected medical or dental expense comes up, maybe a parent loses a job- absolutely never let them touch your savings. Tell them it is for ten years in the future so that you can work for free to get job experience. They will just have to understand. Sorry little Sally, your surgery is going to have to wait.
Tip Two: Housing
Find a place to live for free. Might I suggest a tent?
Tip Three: Take on a “Part Time” Job
Maybe you haven’t been able to save from early childhood (shame!), or the place you live costs actual money. If this happens, you will want to get another job to help make ends meet. Depending on your job (short term work often does not pay that much) and your location (example: Washington, D.C., perhaps the motherland of unpaid internships, has one of the highest housing costs in the U.S.), you might need to work at your paying job full time, so you’re gonna want to go to that place where you got the time machine and get a time turner. You know, like from Harry Potter? That way, you can be two places at once! Careful not to run into yourself or you might destroy the universe, and remember to sleep- you want to be fresh for your internship in the morning!
Tip Four: Set a Budget for Yourself
When I make a budget, I generally take the amount of income I have coming in each month, subtract out my monthly expenses, subtract out the amount I want to save, and then assess what, if anything, I have left over and where adjustments need to be made.
So for an unpaid internship, that would look like:
Tip Five: Have Rich Parents
By far, the easiest and best way to survive an unpaid internship. I am confident that if you can follow this tip, you will not only survive, you will thrive!
youngadulting 