Unpaid Internship Debate

[Clonefan32]

There has been quite a bit of a debate on Twitter over the past few days over the legality and exploitation involved with unpaid internships:

Tweet over an unpaid internship sparks renewed debate over exploitation - The Boston Globe

I find the debate interesting, and I can see how it makes things harder for low-income individuals who cannot afford to work without pay. At the same time I can understand many unpaid internship are well-intentioned learning experiences for the participants.

I had a few unpaid internships which were great experiences. I've found when they aren't paying you they are more receptive to letting you have a good experience as opposed to helping them generate money. But at the same time I was in a position I could endure not being paid, and they were never full time gigs.

Anyone have any internship horror stories?

 

[Mtowncyclone13]

Lets not forget student teaching is the exact same thing, only required by the state.

 

[VeloClone]

In my experience interns actually cost the hosting company money rather than providing any tangible value. I have no problem with them being unpaid within reason.

 

[isufbcurt]

If you can't pay the help don't have the help

 

[Clonefan32]

In my experience interns actually cost the hosting company money rather than providing any tangible value. I have no problem with them being unpaid within reason.

I guess in my mind it comes down to the definition of intern. For example, our office had a college student reach out to us about an internship that really took more the shape of a job shadow. We didn't really need the help, and while I could have found a few things for her to do it was more about her gaining some experience in the field and seeing if she likes it.

So I suppose it comes down to expectation. If it's unpaid and the idea is to just have someone tag along and see what your day looks like, then great. But if it's a legitimate time commitment with expected work product, they should be paid.

 

[Dopey]

If you can't pay the help don't have the help

Is it can’t pay? Or they don’t need to pay due to the supply of people in the industry and the value they provide?
Edit: Student teachers are interesting. I’d be all for boosting teacher salaries somehow.

If you’re in an industry that generally offers unpaid internships, just don’t be shocked when you earn $35k/year as a college grad.

My company used interns as an early recruiting tool for full time. It’s a 3 month job interview with the long game in mind. I doubt any company makes much value off their interns beyond that.

 

[isufbcurt]

Is it can’t pay? Or they don’t need to pay due to the supply of people in the industry and the value they provide?
Edit: Student teachers are interesting. I’d be all for boosting teacher salaries somehow.

If you’re in an industry that generally offers unpaid internships, just don’t be shocked when you earn $35k/year as a college grad.

My company used interns as an early recruiting tool for full time. It’s a 3 month job interview with the long game in mind. I doubt any company makes much value off their interns beyond that.

I should clarify that if you are not getting $ but getting college credit I consider it paid. If you are there working and learning and not getting $ or college credit that is just ridiculous.

 

[Clonefan32]

I should clarify that if you are not getting $ but getting college credit I consider it paid. If you are there working and learning and not getting $ or college credit that is just ridiculous.

I had an unpaid internship one summer where I did not earn credits. It wound up being an awesome experience and I made connections that led to a great job after graduation.

I was fortunate to be able to float it, but I also realize this particular entity couldn't have afforded to pay me either. The opportunity just wouldn't have existed. So I try to see both sides.

 

[VeloClone]

If you can't pay the help don't have the help

I get this. But if they are doing it not because they need the help but instead to help young students in the field and aren't really reaping a benefit they will quit offering it if they are required to pay for something they don't need. In that case, the prospective interns lose.

 

[Cy$]

I get this. But if they are doing it not because they need the help but instead to help young students in the field and aren't really reaping a benefit they will quit offering it if they are required to pay for something they don't need. In that case, the prospective interns lose.

is that the real reason companies are doing it? They could be doing it to get work tasks done for free.

 

[VeloClone]

is that the real reason companies are doing it? They could be doing it to get work tasks done for free.

I started talking about my experience. In my experience they brought on interns to give back to the profession or something like that. Those that had to actually deal with the interns were actually less productive because they were giving the interns on the job training - I hesitate to say babysitting but I'm sure I did a time or two at the time. I'm not against internships but in the experiences I have had the benefits were for the interns, not the company. I realize and acknowledge that all situations are not the same.

 

[Mrpopps]

Lets not forget student teaching is the exact same thing, only required by the state.

I can't believe I have to pay to student teach. All of the work and responsibility, but I'm the one paying for it.

 

[Cycl1]

Depends on the length of the internship. We do a highschool internship program through a local community college that is a 40 hour intership spread out over however long it takes. It is basically to introduce highschool students to the industry so they can make better informed choices about their future. Rarely do they do work that is actually useful to the company, but teaching others can still be beneficial to the ones doing the teaching. They do not get paid for their time.

 

[CascadeClone]

The answer of course, is "it depends".

If the intern is getting good experience for their CV, some mentoring, learning how the world works, and basically auditioning for a full time job - that's a fair trade for work. It reminds me of athletic scholarships to some extent, getting something of value for your time and effort, just not cash or anything you can trade for cash directly.

OTOH, I am sure there are some companies who have an intern program where they look at it as slave labor and they dgaf about the interns at all and treat them like crap.

 

[Drew0311]

Should be optional if you want to do an internship. Should not be required. It’s a great opportunity for some. Lots of connections and future employment

 

[BCClone]

I basically had an unpaid internship for my part time job. Had to follow the guy around and basically get trained while getting no pay. Thankfully for me I was doing it for extra cash during slow times so I had the 2 months that I could basically throw away. It was a cost of doing business to me. I know it cost the head guy a good week or two of productivity training me. So it was a good 5k or so he lost from that also. Training employees is a steep cost. If the person needs no more supervision than anyone else in the office, should be paid. If you have to coach them along, it is costing th company money without paying the intern.

 

[CascadeClone]

I should clarify that if you are not getting $ but getting college credit I consider it paid. If you are there working and learning and not getting $ or college credit that is just ridiculous.

In that case not only are you not getting paid, but you are actually paying the university for the privilege of providing free labor to someone else!

My daughter is doing this now (getting masters in family therapy) and it's both great experience for her and kind of a freaking joke at the same time. And in her case, it is MANDATORY free labor because you have to do it in order to get licensed... And I won't swear to it, but I think the college gets a kickback from the therapy place for providing students - but not sure about that.

 

[Dopey]

I should clarify that if you are not getting $ but getting college credit I consider it paid. If you are there working and learning and not getting $ or college credit that is just ridiculous.

I agree. But it happens, for one reason or another. I just hope people that find themselves in that situation understand the full time pay, if they actually do get a job in that field, will likely suck.

 

[BCClone]

In that case not only are you not getting paid, but you are actually paying the university for the privilege of providing free labor to someone else!

My daughter is doing this now (getting masters in family therapy) and it's both great experience for her and kind of a freaking joke at the same time. And in her case, it is MANDATORY free labor because you have to do it in order to get licensed... And I won't swear to it, but I think the college gets a kickback from the therapy place for providing students - but not sure about that.

I wife usually has one student teacher a year. She gets a hundred bucks from the college/university but it is very time consuming for her. It probably adds an hour in the classroom every day working with the student teacher and all her free time (allocated prep time or during specials) is spent with them also so that adds good time at home prepping things and checking papers.

 

[DeereClone]

Internships are a great way for companies to find potential future hires. I think they should be paid and viewed as an investment from the company’s standpoint as they get to make contact with future potential hires and have them for a trial period before committing to hiring them.