There are several benefits that you will reap from doing an unpaid internship.

1. Experience - you'll have practical experience that will give you an edge when you start interviewing for a job. Hopefully you'll have some projects to include in a portfolio to show prospective employers as well.

2. Job Opportunities - Many times companies will hire their former a intern upon graduation because they know the student's work ethic and strengths, the student already knows the company and how it runs, there is a shorter learning curve and the student already has a mentor at the company. I've hired most of my interns on a full- or part-time basis after graduation.

3. Contacts in the industry - even if the company you're interning with isn't hiring, they may know a company that is and be willing to make the recommendation or set up an interview for you.

4. Contacts at the company where you're interning - I did an internship at a local radio station when I was in college - now 25+ years later I'm still in contact with a number of the people there and work with them professionally on various projects.

5. It's a unique opportunity to have access to some of the top individuals or companies in a particular field.

6. You'll have a chance to prove yourself to the company.

You will be able to begin develop critical and valuable competencies that you otherwise would not from just obtaining your 4 year degree. Real experience is not an option it is a necessity no matter if you are paid or unpaid. Not to mention the great contacts you will get if you do a great job.

This is hard advice when paid internships are shrinking just when students' financial situations are strained, but you need "resume building" experience whether or not it's paid and whether or not your school grants academic credit (mine does not; it expects 400 hours of internship in addition to, not substituting for, the 42 academic credits required for its master's degrees. This is not onerous: the MBA program I attended required 60 academic credits, and as an English major who'd avoided math since high school algebra II, I was required to take an additional 6 credits of remedial math and statistics.) So if you have to wait tables, walk dogs, cut flowers, mow lawns, babysit, etc. in addition to an unpaid internship, do it and don't whine. Future employers value extra effort, determination, backbone and resourcefulness.

In addition to experience, contacts, and skills building, you should get two additional benefits out of an internship. One, even if your school doesn't have an internship approval process that requires an employer to specify not only your tasks but also a project or project component with a deliverable for which you will be held accountable, and while there is "grunt work" at every level, what you want to take away for your resume is a piece of work you can claim has your name on it that your supervisor can speak to as valuable to the organization. Two, this should be an opportunity to work with a practitioner who is willing to offer you guidance and exposure, and this tutelage is invaluable, to see the theories you are studying as they are applied in the real world.