Entry-level hiring in most industries is leveling off, if not sliding down, but according to a CareerBuilder.com survey, summer hiring managers are looking to spend a little more cash on their recruits this year: almost half of business owners said they'd be paying $10/hour, and about 20% will pay even more. I guess all the Euro tourists enjoying our temperate weather injected some Euro liquidity into our shopping malls!

But if you're looking to enter a popular field post-college and can afford to take an immediate financial hit (every creative type worth their salt has had at least one Summer of Ramen!), an unpaid internship is probably a better investment in your future. The networking and learning opportunities will give you a serious advantage upon graduation. And before you get all pissy and tell me about your student loans and the rising cost of tuition and beer tax and blah blah, consider this: at that same time, many other students will only be getting their first unpaid internship, and will start forking over those $500/month student loan payments at the same time...

Every major American city runs on interns, but it's not all photocopying and coffee-fetching for brutal magazine editors and sleazy politicians: many small science research facilities, law offices and art galleries need interns, too! If there's a particular place you want to work, but don't see any information about a program, don't be deterred: try writing an e-mail to the HR department or hiring manager or even cold-calling. You'll stand out and a they'll probably remember you, even if nothing is available just yet.

Deadlines are fast approaching! These are some of the hottest. (And if you need school credit, remember to make arrangements ahead of time.)

Art:
US Weekly Online Photo Interns (New York, NY)
The Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, IL)

Editorial:
Nerve.com (New York, NY)
The Sunday Paper (Atlanta, GA)

Entertainment/Media:
Sony/BMG Music (New York, NY)
KCTS Television (Seattle, WA)
Clear Channel (Cincinnati, OH)

Politics:
Greenpeace (San Francisco,Washington, D.C., New York or Chicago)
The Fund for Public Interest Research (Ann Arbor, MI)