Sunday, September 01, 2013
Summer's Almost Over. Was That Internship Worth The Effort?
Fast Company | Business + Innovation: As the debate and fury over Moritz's death rages on, InternMatch, an online database of college internships and internship-related resources, released a new study on college students and their summer internship experiences.
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5 comments:
Humm... Very interesting topic. As I just left my internship I thought about the knowledge that I gained this summer in comparison to the debt that I also gained from being underpaid. What is better? The experience or the financial gains? I agree with this writer that interns should be paid more especially if they are always asked to work long hours ad to do so much, however most theatre companies continue to get away with it, especially due to the fact that most of them are struggling to survive. Therefore we work to the bone assisting to make shows happen, all for the love... because it would have to be the love... right?
Internships seem like one of the best ways to learn about your field. During my senior year of high school, I did an unpaid 15 hour internship for a local production company in my area called TEN31. Because it was brief and for school, I was appropriately not paid, but I really did learn so much just from those 15 hours and now I am connected with the company and may organize a paid internship in the future. There definitely can be value in an unpaid internship experience, but when interns are working part to full time hours at an internship, they should be paid for their time and efforts even when they are in some ways being paid through the value of their experience. By not offering paid internship positions, companies are discouraging students from interning. Some students may want to intern somewhere, but are forced to chose a summer job instead because of financial reasons. Companies should want students to intern so that they can better prepare students entering their field, and of course students want to be gaining that experience By offering paid internship positions, both the companies and prospective interns could gain something.
Internships are the best way for students to learn. They help not only new individuals in a field in addition to students, but they also help the upper management individuals learn how to be better leads, bosses, and mentors. Sydney brings up a good point that not offering paid internship discourages many people from applying. With the economy nowadays, it is a huge burden for people to take an internship. Internships should leave you better than or at where you started in ALL aspects. That means if you need housing, they should help. Any little bit to offset your commitment should be matched. Its all about making the company and the intern feel that they gained something!
I think internships both paid and unpaid are a significant part in our growth as professionals. My first internship was working 4 days a week, 8 hours a day and it was unpaid. However, it was one of the greatest learning and networking experiences of my life. As a result I have met countless people with careers in fields that interest me, as well as learned a lot about myself as a professional and the type of work environments I thrive in. It also gave me the credentials I needed to get most if not all of the paid work I was able acquire after I finished my time there. In my opinion, all of the pros that come with a fruitful and engaging unpaid internship out weigh getting paid.
I agree with what most people have said in the comments above: internships are a fabulous way to learn about the industry and gain experience and contacts that you can use later in your career. However, I do agree that very often companies can take advantage of internship programs, and work their interns into the ground for almost no pay. Especially in an industry that isn't really known for its high paychecks, I do think that it's important for us, even as students, to be aware of what we should be asking for and what should be expected of us, and to make all of that clear. So often, also, people come back from internships having learned what they do NOT want to, simply because their internship was so stressful or exhausting.
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