5INTERNSHIPS REBUTTAL

Unpaid internships? Unpaid anything sounds unreasonable, especially if you’re using skills that benefit the company you intern at. Well, I think it’s nonsense for businesses to offer unpaid internships.

I currently have an unpaid internship for the sake of completing a class credit. For this reason, I think many students in positions like mine inevitably fall into this corrupt system. Businesses, firms, studios and the like know that students are desperate for internships, not just for credit fulfillment, but also for resume building and experience.

An unpaid internship should be focused on teaching the intern new skills and knowledge. Yes, you’re hired for the skills you have previous to the interview, but learning should be the overall goal.

You know the internship is successful if you have had an insightful and enlightening experience. Yet here’s the question: Do you not gain that experience if the internship is paid?

The harsh reality is that it’s extremely difficult to land an internship that truly teaches its interns, rather than assigning client work or meaningless projects. Although I’m speaking from a background in design, I think there are plenty of people who are trapped by the notion that obtaining an internship is the gateway to a later job. It’s just something to put on your resume and be proud of for future career endeavors.

There are two reasons why I think the unpaid internship structure is flawed. First, a major reason unpaid internships are absurd is because businesses benefit from the skills that you come in with.

In other words, firms make money off your skills while they have other employees on staff doing the same with a salary or pay. Additionally, if the intern is assigned client-related tasks without being paid, it’s technically illegal. The firm is essentially gaining money without paying for the intern’s services.

Secondly, students normally do not have the luxury to afford an unpaid internship. An intern has to transport themselves to the company which costs money and time. They have to feed themselves. And they’re taking time out of their schedules that could be used working a job that actually makes money. Because unpaid internships are a financial drain, they weed out equally qualified students who can’t afford it.

Balancing an internship, jobs and school is challenging. Many students are forced to do other work that probably has little or no relevance to their field of study since many have to pay their living expenses. Additionally, the internship credit is a course that needs to be paid for, adding one more element of senselessness.

Considering the causes and the effects of an unpaid internship — the pressure, the time constraints and everything else a student has to deal with — paying interns is the right thing to do. No doubts about it.