I finished university in July and now I'm in this situation: I have two offers, one as an intern at a communications firm in Milan (€500 a month) and another as a junior at a smaller web agency but with an actual contract. A lot of my friends did internships for months, others turned them down and found jobs anyway. I don't know what's really the right move, especially because I need to earn some money.
If you need to earn money, a real contract is objectively the better choice: €500 as an intern is really very little and won't let you live in Milan, whereas a junior with a contract at least gets by better financially 💶 An internship might make sense if you were supported by your family or had zero experience in the sector, but since you've got both options on the table and you already have your degree, it doesn't really make sense to "pay" to learn when you can learn while getting paid decently. Of course it depends on the details (like if the web agency is actually tiny or if the communications firm is a big name that opens doors), but generally speaking a junior with a proper contract is the move.
A junior contract is the most logical choice from an economic standpoint, but don't underestimate that an internship at a serious communications firm in Milan could give you a network of contacts and a portfolio that you'll need later on. The question is: how many months are we talking about for the internship? If it's just three or four months and then you're back to square one, the contract is better. But if it's structured, short-term, and has a real chance of leading to follow-up collaborations, it might be worth it.
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