Summer dilemma: Get the experience - or the cash?

One consolation: Two-thirds of student interns do get paid, according to a survey by career publisher Vault Inc., with income ranging from $10 an hour to $13,000 for the summer.

Still, working summers is less popular with young people than in recent decades. For example: A smaller share of youths ages 16 to 24 worked last July than at any time since 1966, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

One reason: an increased focus on academics. A decade ago, 1 in 6 youths (ages 16 to 24) were enrolled in school in July, the BLS found. By last year, nearly 1 in 3 were enrolled.

Even among those who do work, the motivation is slowly shifting toward academics. This summer more teens will be working to save for college than to make extra spending money, according to a Junior Achievement survey of 1,155 teens. This marks the first time in the six years of the survey that college savings were No. 1.

To find the right position, be careful and ask lots of questions.

"When you are looking into an internship, be very inquisitive as to what your actual duties are going to entail," suggests Boyer. "If it ends up where you're just going to push paper or make copies or be a gofer, you're much better off going to work in a retail position or in a restaurant, where you're actually going to be doing things of substance."

These jobs can teach valuable lessons, too, such as the importance of learning to get along with all types of people, customers, and co-workers.

Even a disappointing internship has its merits, says Peg Hendershot, director of the career counseling service Career Vision, in Glen Ellyn, Ill. "You may end up doing grunt work, but you get to see the environment and see if it's what you're going to want."

Ultimately, the right summer job needs to fit a student's career path. For example, if someone is studying to be an investment banker, working in a mailroom is not an internship, says Mr. Rothberg. "They might call it an internship, but it's really a job because your career path is not to work in a mailroom."

Students who need the money that a summer job provides can turn it into a career advantage, Boyer says. Many workers in corporate offices initially started out by working at a summer or hourly job with the company and were later hired for full-time work in their field. "It's like you get into a club when you work for one of these organizations," he says, adding that if you work hard, you'll probably receive a job offer when you graduate.

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