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Unpaid internships: Gateway to a Career or Dressed Up Version of Free Labor?
I want to get into working in global health so that is part of the reason that I have been volunteering abroad for the last year. How prevalent are unpaid internships in other fields? If you had one, do you feel that if was a valuable experience or did the company/organization just use your skills for free?
Tags: career, internships, salary, volunteer, volunteering
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Rob on -
I've had both paid and unpaid internships.
In my limited experience, companies that pay their interns tend to treat them more like "real employees" with "real responsibilities". On the other hand, companies that don't pay interns tend to treat them more like "stereotypical interns" and give them "intern responsibilities".
Of course, this does not hold true for every company, each internship is unique in some way. The key to internships is, regardless of whether it is paid or not, you only get out what you put in. If you use an unpaid internship to network and build connections, it will be worth it; on the flip side, if you go into a paid internship every day, surf facebook and then go home, it will probably be a waste of time.
My biggest beef with unpaid internships is that I feel like they are reserved for those who can afford to work X hours per week for no paycheck (surviving off of minimum wage is tough, but at least it can be done). This is another debate entirely, of course...
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Permalink Reply by Allie Osmar on -
Time and time again in my field (PR and advertising), I've talked to unpaid interns who end up acting like gophers and administrative assistants. On the other hand, those who are paid tend to gain very valuable experience. I did both, and this was absolutely my experience.
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Permalink Reply by Aleksie on -
I've seen a few in science, mainly with non-profit museums. I did one at a museum. It was kind of BS, because my job was to supplement the day camp that they run at the museum. I created the fact sheets and procedurals for the counselors (who were paid), did inventory, found new things for them to do, etc. I even babysat one of the kids who was in time out. I enjoyed it, but looking back, it's kind of absurd I wasn't paid.
The best thing about the unpaid internships I've heard about is they try to be flexible and realistic about them; they know you have to earn money somewhere.
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Permalink Reply by Mindy on -
I think it'd likely depend on the particular field as to how beneficial an unpaid or paid internship may be.
In journalism, any internship is good, primarily because newspapers want to see some level of previous experience before hiring you. Fresh out of college with no "real world" writing abilities - and simply classroom lessons and writing samples - won't get an aspiring journalist very far. I had an unpaid internship, but it paid off far better in the long run than many paid internships my friends were completing.
In my particular field, however, the publication and work you accomplish matter far more than whether or not you're getting paid.
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Permalink Reply by Raeleigh on -
I had a PR internship and a marketing internship in college, both paid. The marketing one was really just me being a barista and doing extra marketing work. So that's why that one was paid. For the PR internship, I worked for a non-profit organization as a "legislative intern" during our state's spring legislative session. I learned more about the Montana government during that 90-day session than in 3 semesters of government. I also learned that I NEVER WANT TO WORK FOR A NON-PROFIT IN MY LIFE. Don't get me wrong, it was a great experience, but it gets hard to feel like you're making the world a better place when you constantly have to call members and beg for money. Ew.
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Permalink Reply by cooper on -
My first unpaid internship was for a congressman, my second was actually something I also used as independent study for credit my last term of college. I ended up working for the organization for a year post college in a paid position. I just recently took a different job in the public policy area. The internship was directly related to what I wanted to do, heading as I was for a dual grad degree in international affairs and public policy. I think the time there will be quite helpful to my future resume and the contacts certainly won't hurt. That that is my experience.
I imagine it depends on the field of interest. The fields I'm interested in, and it sound like your areas of interest as well, I think internships can be valuable.
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Permalink Reply by Susan on -
I work at a PR agency and we have paid interns. We seem to treat them pretty well. Yes they do more administrative tasks, but especially in an industry that is tough to break into, any "in" is good.
However, I interned at a monthly yuppy magazine when I was in college and it was unpaid. Not that it was too long ago, but I had a really hard time even finding a paid internship as an English major, while my business major friends seemed to have no problem.
That being said - if you can find a paid one, get one because let's face it, who doesn't need the money? Though I can see how an unpaid intern would have the tendency to be treated less ideally than a paid intern, when I was unpaid at my internship, I wrote a bunch of sidebars, did a lot of interviews and even wrote a feature story- I was paid like $100 for that one- I guess you never know.
I don't think my contribution to this conversation really came to any sort of conclusion or answer, but good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Raeleigh on
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yay for PR agencies with paid interns. gives me hope. :)
i can't imagine these poor kids with their unpaid internships. I did both of mine the same semester, so ultimately I had 25 credits. If I'd have had to do those 25 credits AND work (to make car payments, cell phone bill, etc) I probably would have died of exhaustion. At the non-profit, I was kinda treated like crap by some of the guys, but it was more of a "oh, the intern can do that" sort of thing than them actually being mean. Although one of them DID have a tendancy to bring me stuff to do 5 minutes before I left every day. Uh, hi. You had 3 hours, dude.
Anyway! :)
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Permalink Reply by Jason on -
It's both a gateway and free labor. I did a few internships in the publishing field, and for one guy I worked for, it was obvious that he was just using college students to pick up behind him. But that was ok for me. I did the most work I could do, and it was something to slap on the old resume.
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Permalink Reply by dmb5_libra on -
i think it can definitely be a gateway career if you are willing to pay your dues. i know quite a few people that have gone through global health and its tough, most end up quitting before they see the rewards, so i guess it depends on how motivated you are.
i myself started as an intern (unpaid at first) and am now a manager for the same company 7 years later. its a rewarding experience and can also help you get your foot in the door later on down the road depending on the impression you make.
i guess in a nutshell what i'm trying to say is: it is what you make of it.
please contact me! my company has several job opportunities with Global Health in DC.
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Permalink Reply by MargotToBed on -
I think it has everything to do with the field your in and the opportunity.
If the opportunity is a good one then I say do whatever it takes to get there (including not being paid).. I'd always wanted to be in the music industry so I did 6 unpaid internships to get to the position I have now and although I was quite the gopher at times, every second was worth it.
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Permalink Reply by Adorably Bitter on -
Around here unpaid internships are not really common. And if there is one, then the reward usually comes in other ways, like credits for your uni work, or external supervision for your thesis. Try to figure out as much as possible what the internship could bring you (possibility to network, great addition to cv, good learning experience, future employment etc.) and if it will help you where you want to go before accepting any. I haven't done any internships as such, however I've done a lot of volunteer work, and I think it has benefitted me big time
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