Should I take an unpaid internship

I currently a Junior finance major. I was just offered an unpaid internship position at a small family office private equity firm. I am going to be doing actual company analysis so I believe it to be illegal to not pay me. I am not interested in being taken advantage of. I think he uses interns as a way to avoid having to hire full-time employees. At the same time I could really use the experience to put on my resume. I am curious what others think of the situation and what they think I should do.

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As a junior in undergrad, you should be thankful that you are even getting an unpaid opportunity that many people (i.e. myself in undergrad) would kill for. Unpaid internships can be rough during its duration but the experience that you gain from it will differentiate yourself tremendously from the 1,000+ applicants that you will compete against for every high finance position ever posted. Even though not getting paid sucks, you are entering a very competitive labor market where differentiation does matter. I had to suck it up as a masters student taking an unpaid IB internship during my program but the reward of getting a 6-figure plus compensation package down the road was well worth not getting paid at the time.

 

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