Quit job for internship?

Just FYI - the OP says the internship is paid, which might change things a bit. If you don't have to go into debt, and it's a good opportunity, and you're young, it's not a horrible idea to go for it!

Under these circumstances, I'd stay put. A job that pays money is always better than a job you do for free. You hope it will impress future employers, but there's no guarantee. Sure, your current job is a whole lotta nuthin', but after a certain period of time, you'll be ready to move onto another position with another company. How hard was it to get this job? How hard will it be to get a job after the internship? How much money will you sacrifice to take the internship? Could that income be replaced by a serving or bartending job? Can you get a serving or bartending job? On the other hand, if you can get a job that pays along the same lines, and it dovetails with your internship, AND you feel like you can get a better job at the end of it, then quit, do the internship and move on.

I'd say go for it. But if you get offered the internship, ask your current employer if you could perhaps take a leave. No harm in asking!

Will the internship make you better at your current job or more valuable/promotable for you current employer? If so, your current employer might let yo take a leave of absence in order to do the internship.

Back in the mid '90s, in the middle of the "multimedia" boom (when the Internet hadn't yet hit big), I was at a multimedia celebration of some sort at the Exploratorium in SF, hosted by Arthur Andersen. I was talking to one of the host reps, talking with great passion about what I'd worked on in the past year, for a company with a very recognizable name, and then I said "what do you do?". He responded "I've just been trying to not get downsized." In the intervening years I have, a few times, found myself trying to not get downsized, and it doesn't do anyone any favors. If I'm not fired up about what I'm doing, passionately trying to improve what I'm working on, there's probably someone who can do the job I'm in better than me, and I'm not living up to my potential. Having said that: Hell yes, you should interview. And make them sell you on the job: They're asking you to come work for them for 3 months without work lined up afterwards. What are they offering you to make that decision worthwhile for them? My same advice here that I toss out for every interview: Assume that you are obscenely overqualified for the job and they want you, but you need to figure out if you want to do it. Make them sell you on it. Make a plan for what happens in 3 months. Do you start sending out resumes in 2? Can you make that list now? Do you have a cash buffer to get you home and keep you comfortable 'til you find a new job? Is that list going to be in Spain, or at home? And whatever you do, if you don't take this job then you should figure out what your other next move is. It sounds like you're just biding time, waiting for an opportunity. That says to me that there are professional connections you should be trying to make outside of work, trying to figure out what your next step is. Because it isn't your current job.

I agree with straw, but also consider that a paid internship is pretty great, and http://www.tradingeconomics.com/spain/unemployment-rate. Don't push the Spanish company too hard to sell you on the internship. It sounds like you could make more connections through the internship, and if you can get a leave of absence from your current job, it could be a huge win for you.

Do the internship. Unless you really want to do boring, poorly-paid data entry for months or years longer, you're going to have to take the leap and leave eventually. Why not do it when you have an exciting opportunity to take?

Given what you describe, I'd do the internship. You sound excited about it and not even vaguely excited about your job -- quite the opposite, in fact. If your current job is as blah as it sounds, you'll be moving on with or without this internship experience...might as well take advantage of a new growth opportunity, especially since it pays (I'm assuming in line with what you're getting paid now, on a pro-rata basis? that would be good to know). Other pros: you'll perhaps have the opportunity to do some additional networking and get the lay of the job-land again since you won't be working with the end expectation that they will hire you. You won't regret "never having found out what it would have been like..." Good luck!

Oh, sorry. At least TRY for the internship. Yes, by all means.