Campaign to end unpaid internships

[BehindBlueI's]

We've got an intern in the office. He's trying to learn the ropes of the industry, get a feel for what the job actually entails, and make some contacts. If the internship program required us to pay him, I'm sure there would be no internship program. At what point does it stop being an internship and actually just become an unpaid worker, though?

Campaign to end unpaid internships heads to campus - Education - Boston.com

 

[jbombelli]

We've got an intern in the office. He's trying to learn the ropes of the industry, get a feel for what the job actually entails, and make some contacts. If the internship program required us to pay him, I'm sure there would be no internship program. At what point does it stop being an internship and actually just become an unpaid worker, though?

Campaign to end unpaid internships heads to campus - Education - Boston.com

As far as I'm concerned, it becomes unpaid labor the moment someone does work for you and you don't pay them. I see "internships" as taking advantage of people. I'm not saying they should be illegal or anything like that, but I have never done one, nor would I ever.

 

[CSK22]

If the person chooses to have an unpaid internship whats the issue? They chose to do it. If they don't want one, they don't have to have one.

 

[KLB]

If the person chooses to have an unpaid internship whats the issue? They chose to do it. If they don't want one, they don't have to have one.

Exactly. Many of them involve students, which gives them a good lead into a job.

I know where I work, we have hired three straight interns once they graduated.

 

[HDSilvrStreak]

Interns can be unpaid IF they also are receiving college credit. If they are not receiving credit, they should be paid something.

 

[Hotdoger]

Told my daughters to not take unpaid internships. Their work was worth something. If a company does not want to pay straight A students for their work then they are not worth wasting their time on.

 

[AnnieO]

We are required to do an internship to graduate. So I actually had to pay college credit to work for 26 weeks. But it is a requirement for my degree and we knew it going in. Of course that was a long time ago for me.

 

[IrishSon of Liberty]

As stated in the linked artice:

They also want to join up with organized labor as part of a broader coalition focused on workplace issues.

I see this as a gateway to demand $15/hr for non-graduates.

 

[MCgrease08]

Think of it as an apprenticeship. If the kid wants to be there and learn the trade then great. Does he enjoy it? Where else could he get better experience. That can be worth a lot more than money.

Now if someone is forced to do an internship simply for credit through school, their choices may be limited when choosing one. If they do real work for a company they should earn a paycheck. I work with a company that pays interns $15/hr, but they can afford it, and it attracts bright kids.

I've had both types, and I got something out of each. My career wouldn't be where it is today if Ihad been afraid to work for free.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Think of it as an apprenticeship. If the kid wants to be there and learn the trade then great. Does he enjoy it? Where else could he get better experience. That can be worth a lot more than money.

There we go. Internships may not be paid in cash, but they are certainly rewarded for their time. An internship is a lot cheaper than getting a degree and then learning the job isn't what you thought it was going to be. Making connections at an organization can be priceless. There's not many jobs that you just pick up the classifieds for these days, you need to know someone to get a foot in the door.

Internships are a return to the apprenticeships and journeyman days of our forefathers. Back before education at a university was mistakenly sold to the masses as the only path to success.

I've done unpaid internships. Some times you take a job to learn, not to earn. I was never paid as an EMT. I was an intern and then a Red Cross volunteer. I then did an internship for nursing to see if I wanted to continue to advance in the medical field and quickly discovered I did not.

 

[MCgrease08]

Life is about showing up and proving you can do the job.

 

[CitiusFortius]

As far as I'm concerned, it becomes unpaid labor the moment someone does work for you and you don't pay them. I see "internships" as taking advantage of people. I'm not saying they should be illegal or anything like that, but I have never done one, nor would I ever.

Spoken like someone who never needed one. For people fresh out of college - entering a field with no connections it can be a Godsend.

I took one, and that direct experience got me hired for my "real job" at another company. We're all big boys and girls, nobody is forcing people to do these.

 

[jbombelli]

Spoken like someone who never needed one. For people fresh out of college - entering a field with no connections it can be a Godsend.

I took one, and that direct experience got me hired for my "real job" at another company. We're all big boys and girls, nobody is forcing people to do these.

You're right to an extent. I never needed one. The other side of that is I've never been in a position that I could just give away my labor. I've always needed to make money. Even when I was in college I was stuck with having to work.

And no, nobody's forcing anybody to do an unpaid internship. Neither am I saying they should not exist. I just see them as exploitative.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Even when I was in college I was stuck with having to work.

They are not mutually exclusive. I worked the whole time I was in college and still did internships. I even did an internship while I was still active duty military. Typically interns don't work a full time schedule (exceptions exist, of course, especially in upper end medical internships).

 

[Hotdoger]

"Life is about showing up and proving you can do the job ", and getting PAID for it. Charity work is for the less fortunate and those in true need.

 

[gvsugod]

I had an internship in college, required to graduate. And I will tell you this, I learned more in that 3 month internship than I did in any classroom in 4 years in college. The pay is the actual real world experience. Every job I have gotten since college, leading to my long term one now, has been as a direct result of that unpaid internship.

 

[CountryBoy19]

If the person chooses to have an unpaid internship whats the issue? They chose to do it. If they don't want one, they don't have to have one.

Very true, but often times there are fields where you absolutely cannot get a job until you've worked x months in the field, there is no way to work those months in the field because nobody will hire without experience. So you have to resort to these internships that don't pay. Certainly a lot of people knew that going in, but some probably didn't. Internship payment seems to be very divided between career fields. Some the only way to ever get a job in the field is to lay out months of your life for NO compensation except the experience. Personally, I think that's a bit extreme, at least pay them minimum wage or something so they can eat. A lot of these kids don't have mom & dad feeding and clothing them so taking an unpaid internship is a huge financial outlay.

OTOH, I know internships in my career field that pay up to, and occasionally more than $20/hr. I worked an internship the summer after my sophomore year of college that paid $14.50/hr and I worked the same one the next summer for $16/hr.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Unpaid interns are unlikely to organize on their own. Trace the relationships. I suspect, as with the fast food zombies, you'll find seiu/ofa fingerprints on this thing. Then we just have to figure out what that means.