When I was interning at a certain political campaign in 2000, I was unpaid. In fact, I was going for college credit, so in reality I was paying to intern
My days went like this:
1) answer phone calls listening to people complain about
: the United States government, the destruction of wooded areas in Oregon, and the Elian Gonzales thing...
2) file invitations to speaking engagements into the no, yes, or maybe files
3) make copies
4) make even more copies
5) enter campaign contributions into a database for the "finance" department
6) listen to all of the political staffers complain about having to move from D.C. to Tennessee for the campaign
7) screen phone calls for the "scheduling and advance" department -- if important, then let my bosses know
The good thing to keep in mind is that I was hired on as a full time staffer and front-office manager before the semester was even over. So, working hard at assinine tasks can pay off big time. It may not land you a job, but it can certainly get your foot in the door!