InternshipRatings: Rave Or Rant About Your Internship

InternshipRatings aims to hold companies accountable for inherently taking advantage of interns by giving false advertising seemingly glamorous positions that end up as nothing more than trips to the coffee well and menial tasks. As it becomes incredibly important to land a good internship, it is also becoming equally important to hold an internship that provides valuable experiences that a student can actually talk to in future interviews. Although there are plenty of internship review sites, InternshipRatings.com poses a solution for finding an internship that will bring value beyond just a few lines on a resume.

The need for such a rating and comparing system became apparent when founders Stephanie Gurtman and Lauren Grunstein had contrasting internship experiences. Steph thought her internship would be terrible, but it turned out amazing while Lauren experienced the complete opposite. Since their initial discussion in July 2007, the two Boston University sophomores have been able to raise seed financing from a family and friends round, launch this last February, and gain several esteemed experts on internship and job placement on their team as contributing writers for their blog and resource section.

For more analysis and a chance to review the company,

The questionnaire and rating criteria are designed to critique an internship on whether it held up to its description and expectations set forth by employers, whether or not it provided a valuable learning experience, the type of work involved, and other opportunities that employers provided. Due to the uninteresting nature and dreaded process of finding an internship, the design is probably equally as important as content in this case, which they have certainly nailed with lively colors. The website isn't completely finished; Lauren and Steph aim to continually add improvements such as rating criteria. I would like to see more graphic-oriented rating scales that are more engaging than simple surveys. Right now you can rate with coffee cups and dollar signs, but it would be cool to see a bunch of other types too; the more creativity the better.

The continual uploading of ratings and resources will be important. It is likely that significant leg work will be necessary for gaining momentum. They agreed that partnerships with career services will be important and possibly with companies down the road. This could lead to another monetization strategy of providing consulting services for improving internships for those companies that rate low. The #1 fear of their users is that companies will come back and find low reviews and hold it against them. This is easily solved by allowing anonymity, which they have done. My main fear is that current sites can create their own rating systems. Either way, they have solidified their value proposition and have potential to become a very valuable tool for students. InternshipRatings is off to a solid start with over 100 companies profiled.

If you have held an internship that you would like to rave or rant about (or looking for one), be sure join and add your rating. We do ratings too, so come back and review them here.