Calling BS On Unpaid Internships

theodp writes "Getting an intern is so hot right now,' writes Stewart Curry. 'It's also bull**** 99% of the time.' IrishStu also provides his list of Interning's Big Lies: 1. 'You'll get training.' 2. 'We might hire you after the internship.' 3. 'You get to work with an awesome team.' 4. 'It will look great on your CV.' 5. 'You'll make great contacts.' So, who does it really hurt, Stu? 'Here's who it hurts — interns. You have them working for nothing. Here's who it hurts — people who need a wage in order to survive. Here's who it hurts — companies that want to pay people a decent wage for work they do.' Inside Higher Ed also checks in on The Great Intern Debate."

A different perspective

[Anonymous Coward]

I interned for three straight summers for a company, was paid very well (started at $13/hr my first summer, ended at $18/hr my last summer), had school covered my last two years with the understanding that I'd come back after I graduated, and had a job lined up before I left to go back to school after my last summer. I've worked for them for 10+ years now since I graduated and still don't see any reason to go anywhere else. I worked on stuff that was interesting to me at the time with good people, in an organization that actually cared for their interns. Maybe I had a different experience that most interns, but I still tell students that interning is good for you. I think it depends more on where you choose to intern.

Don't do it

[phantomfive]

I can't speak for the medical, financial, or law industries, but if you get offered an unpaid internship in the computer industry, laugh that offer out the door. There are tons of internships in the computer industry that pay real money, so don't work for some company that is trying to rip you off. They will only rip you off more and more, then dump you.

Re:Unpaid interns and IRS

[Anonymous Coward]

Microsoft pays their interns, and pays them around 80% of a full time employee salary, although that depends on the length of the internship, a summer internship pays less. They also provide housing for some and other perks [nwsource.com].

Re:Why is some random guy's blog on Slashdot?

[jhoegl]

I agree. I had to have an internship for my coursework. I ended up at some place that makes and sells bibles...
Long story short, the guy that was there didnt talk to me for 2 days. I literally just sat there. THe last day I was there I came in and he said he had to leave. I had no orders or information on what to do. So I left him a note stating that if he has no work, dont waste my time.
I spoke with the college about the issue and I got another internship, a better one.

Re:Why is some random guy's blog on Slashdot?

[gl4ss]

random guys blogs are essentially the same as random news sites. essentially slashdot kind of started as some random guys blog. the intern stuff is true, of course, it's just unpaid work. the summary and article could have put emphasis on some graphical/advert firms which work practically entirely on unpaid interns. what does look great on cv is that someone PAID for your internship just because you were so cool, though, but that's not being an intern - that's real work experience. but if one doesn't in the computer field know that internships are bullshit then one hasn't read dilbert.

Re:Why is some random guy's blog on Slashdot?

[iamhassi]

"I had to have an internship for my coursework."

Unpaid internships are also mandatory in the medical field. Every potential nurse and doctor works hundreds of hours in hospitals before they're allowed to graduate. I only wish they did this for engineers and scientists, I would have loved the break from the books to get my hands dirty.

All of the examples in the blog are for graphic design internships, which is completely understandable why companies would choose interns for graphic design because unless you graduated from a top design school it's very easy to say "oh ya, I'm great at graphic design".

I think this guy is a drop-out with no skills and he's whining that he can't find a paying job. I'm sure this blog post will help STEWART CURRY find a great job. First problem, his website is bland and doesn't have any work examples [irishstu.com]. Second problem: the navigation bar at the bottom doesn't work well with Chrome. [irishstu.com]

Starting to see why no one wants to pay him, I hire web designers all the time and I certainly wouldn't hire him based on what I've seen. Also local web design is a dying breed, you can go online and find someone in China or Middle East that will create entire websites for $50. Sorry but outsourcing is here to stay, web design is not a great field to be looking for a job in.

Re:Why is some random guy's blog on Slashdot?

[ColdWetDog]

Unpaid internships are also mandatory in the medical field. Every potential nurse and doctor works hundreds of hours in hospitals before they're allowed to graduate. I only wish they did this for engineers and scientists, I would have loved the break from the books to get my hands dirty.

Not exactly. At least in the US, 'internship' is the first year after medical school. It's more of a post doctoral position (you have your MD) than an internship in the fashion that is being used in TFA. And, at least in the US, you get paid. Not much, but you get paid. Nurses in general do not have a similar situation. STUDENT nurses and medical STUDENTS work hundreds of hours in hospitals without pay but that's somewhat different.

Today's Slashdot Pedantry brought to you by the makers of some nasty drug that you probably don't need.