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Unpaid internships used to be a trusted route to securing a paying job. An organization would welcome a young person (the intern), allow them to experience the workplace, then decide if the intern was a good enough fit to be offered a permanent, paid position. At the very least, the intern received workplace experience in an industry and could list it on their resume, making them more desirable to future employers.
Current employers also find interns desirable, unfortunately for the wrong reasons: an estimate from a year ago reckons $2-billion is saved annually from interns (and one can only imagine that figure has risen). Although internships are intended to be learning experiences, many interns work just as much as an average employee with no acknowledgement for their work – and no potential to transition into permanent work. Some companies rely solely on interns to sustain their business, which is even more exploitative.
There are arguments for and against the unpaid internship model, with some companies – like Girl Power Talk – doing away with them altogether.
Experience doesn’t pay the bills
According to research, 43% of internships at for-profits don’t pay their interns. The unpaid internship model is often justified by the assumption that the intern gains more from the relationship (workplace experience, on-the-job learning, time spent with professionals) than the company or employer does.
Internships can be a gateway to a steady job and a good salary, but they also put a lot of stress and strain on a person to work for free while still supporting themselves, and possibly their family as well. Think about all that an unpaid internship requires: time; ability to travel to the internship; paying for living expenses – the costs stack up. Young people either need to live off of their savings or may need to take on an additional (paying) job while they complete their internship. Hopefully, they get a job offer at the end of it, but there’s no guarantee.
Access to unpaid internships is thus limited to those who can give their time for free, while still being able to care for themselves and any dependents. According to the report by National Survey of College Internships, 67.3% of students had wanted to take an internship but couldn’t due to a variety of obstacles.
“Internships can be a gateway to a steady job and a good salary, but they also put a lot of stress and strain on a person to work for free while still supporting themselves, and possibly their family as well.”
Students are already burdened with the cost of attending college or university, and are often saddled with enormous debt. Expecting this group of young people to then seek out unpaid positions in an attempt to land a paying job is unfair and wrong.
Mixed results for interns and employers
Despite the promise of valuable career development opportunities, interns often have little autonomy. And unfortunately, the intern’s sacrifice to work unpaid doesn’t always pay off.
This practice also creates a problematic and unsustainable foundation for labour market growth. Unpaid internships mean employers are using free labour instead of filling a position with an individual who could be earning an hourly wage or salary. Companies that use a rotating stock of interns to run their front office, for instance, are relying on exploitation to run their business while limiting opportunities for qualified employees.
Encouraging student reflection
Whether it is paid or not, an internship is a career-defining step that requires thorough and conscious thought. There are a few factors to consider when undertaking an internship. Below are a few questions students can ask themselves before taking on an internship:
- How many hours is the organization requesting?
- How long is the internship period?
- How many interns are they recruiting?
- What are the role expectations and what do you stand to learn?
An internship is an opportunity for on-the-job learning, not training and doing unpaid work. Students should be extra wary if the company or organization asks them to pay a fee to become an intern. It may be that the company is inundated with internship requests and wants to thin out their applicants to those who are really dedicated, but the idea of paying to freely give your time to a company is suspicious. Students should check government standards an organization needs to uphold to determine if a position is a valid internship or not.
Cultivating young leaders – not interns
Some businesses have chosen to offer paid internships instead, which increases equity and makes these opportunities more widely accessible to people from different backgrounds and with differing levels of financial solvency. Attracting diversity brings in more points of view and varying skillsets.
Here at Girl Power Talk, the word “intern” is not used, nor is the exploitative culture of unpaid internships. Instead, promising talent is hired and all employees are given the title “Young Leader.” Young Leaders are encouraged to be creative, to express themselves and to learn while being part of something greater than themselves. They spend time working in different departments to find out what their strengths are and where their abilities can be put to best use. These paid learning opportunities give young people and students the means to develop their confidence and an incredible chance to develop themselves professionally, become financially independent and find a viable career path.
When companies empower their employees with fair wages, they foster loyalty and commitment. This, in turn, deepens the pool of potential hires when the internship concludes. Simply put, earning no money is not sustainable for most people; those earning no money and who are willing to work typically apply to many positions to hedge their bets. Financial compensation is a primary motivator for many; companies who forgo paying their interns do so to their (long-term) detriment.
