Decent full-time first job vs. waiting for career-forming opportunities

It's not going to look better to have an unrelated full time job than a marketing internship if your ultimate goal is to work in marketing.

A technical recruiting job will not help you get a job in marketing.

Don't count your chickens, etc.--but personally, of these three, I'd take the agency job. The beer company gig sounds like a lot of shit shoveling (POS merchandising--i.e., setting up beer displays at liquor stores? Supporting brand ambassadors--i.e., driving the Swedish bikini team from event to event?). The recruiting gig sounds like something you could fall back into if you don't find another job, but wouldn't advance you in the directions you're looking to go. Agency work is sexy work in marketing, and you'd be exposed to different clients with, it sounds, deep pockets. You want to leave this internship with something cool to talk about in your next interview--either put something in your portfolio or be able to say, "I was part of the team that worked on the $150M Snugglebudz campaign, including digital, print, mobile, and OOH, and I personally wrote two of the FB ads that had the highest CTRs."

You've only listed one job; the rest are seasonal positions. It's not ethical for you to work as an intern if you aren't a student. If you're graduating, you need a job that pays the bills and builds up savings. Find a job, then find what you want as you live your life. A loan isn't money in your pocket. In fact, it's quite the opposite.

At the interviews for the internships, ask how many interns get hired on as full-time employees. Sometimes that's pretty much guaranteed if you're not a total disaster. Sometimes, it rarely-to-never happens in which case you'd be wise to continue your job search through the summer.

Just to clarify I think the marketing coordinator role for the huge marketing company will be similar for the beer company's - the beer company is using the experiential marketing companys services whereas with the second one im working directly for the experiential marketing company. Youre probably right about shit shoveling. Just that there seems to be cool opportunities to advance...many senior directors at beer company started out with this internship apparently ...it opens a lot of doors..

More and more companies have been offering internships to college grads as a way to test drive a candidate before hiring them into full-time positions. I know this is the case with marketing, advertising and PR firms in particular, as there is no shortage of people just like the OP that are eager to join the industry and are willing to entertain lower pay in order to get a foothold. Regarding the question at hand, you have to weigh the need for financial security once whatever funding you have on hand runs out. Will your funds and the stipend you get from the internships be enough to keep you in food/clothes/apt until you land a full-time gig? Will the stipend be enough when the loans run out? If not, the recruiting opp may be the best bet. There's no reason that you couldn't continue to look for full-time positions in marketing while on the job at the recruiting company. If you're comfortable with a little financial uncertainty and want to go after one of the internships, I agree that the agency gig sounds more promising. My experience is that entry level in-house marketing folks tend to get a lot more administrative work than their agency counterparts. The diversity of projects at the agency is also a great way to round out your experience and your resume should you decide or need to move on after the internship has come to an end.

The first two jobs are not, I don't think, the kind of marketing you've been trained to do. The beer rep / "brand ambassador" type of work friends of mine have done in the past has been summer work only -- I'm not sure where it leads (maybe someone knows?); my understanding is that this sort of thing is slightly different from event management (titles in the last I am familiar with include "http://www.simplyhired.ca/a/jobs/list/q-special+events+coordinator/l-mississauga,+on"). Some of the jobs http://www.mediajobsearchcanada.com/jobs.asp?c=22 (that is a Canadian site) might be more in alignment with your goals. You might also talk to your campus career centre and see what formal partnerships your school might have with employers. The HR gig is money and would get you out of your parents' home, but it's a thing you could do any time. I think you will have to decide between an internship and money/moving out. (Or, do an internship, work nights, and find roommates.)

If you ultimately want a career in marketing, I would strongly consider the second option. If it's with a large marketing company, the foot in the door, contacts, etc. could be quite valuable even if the job is only temporary. This is the time of your life when it's generally worth taking a risk on an opportunity, especially if it might help you advance in your career. While the third option might seem tempting, keep in mind that recruiting is the sort of job that many people try and wash out of very quickly. Like most sales jobs, it's a highly stressful grind and the competition is ferocious.