Job search while interning

I’m curious what people’s stance is on applying for jobs while employed as an intern? Is this frowned upon? How does this change when looking at jobs that are looking for an immediate hire versus employers that will wait until the end of the internship?

It seems it’d be a bit of an awkward conversation to be having when asking for time off to interview for another company/firm.

Do you have chances to stay at your current company? If you wanna stay but don’t know anything about your chances yet, just go and talk to your boss or whoever is responsible for you. It’s totally understandable that you want to know what’s happening before the last week of your time there, and I guess the people you work for also think likewise. However, if you know there are no chances to stay or you just don’t want to, look for other opportunities and apply. During my last internship I was on that situation, but I had the interviews on Saturdays and via skype, so there was no issue with doing it during my working hours.

Why have the conversation in the first place?

No different for anyone looking for a new job.

Call in sick like everyone else.

Don’t conduct your job searches while you’re on the job at the internship. If you don’t like where you’re interning just remember that it’s temporary (I’m assuming it’s a 3 month internship) and get as much experience out of it that you can. If you like it there it’s best to stick with it, they might offer you a job at the end. That said you should still be looking to line something up for when the internship ends. As a hiring manager I would wait for a candidate to start employment at the end of their internship because the candidate is getting training that I value, but also, if they jump ship on an internship what’s to say they won’t do the same after I hire them?

If you find a really kickass position and they need you to start before you can complete the internship then go for it, but just keep in mind that you may be burning a bridge, companies that take on interns don’t just do it for the extra (cheap) help, but to contribute to the intern’s education and profession. Also consider anyone who may have referred you for the internship, how do you think they’ll react if you bailed on an opportunity that they helped you get? Personally, I’d be pretty embarrassed if the boss of an intern I referred called me up to ask what the hell happened. If I had an intern that quit for a job half way in I’d be miffed about it unless they were leaving for some incredible opportunity, then I could understand.