How do you feel about unpaid internships?

Don’t think of it as free labor. Think of it as paying for your learning and work experience with your labor. If they are of limited duration, I think they are worthwhile.

I think the companies should pay, but the system is sort of set up this way, and you don’t have time to change the system right now. I think the experience if it is at a good company in your field is worth it, even if you are not paid. Someone once said to me every time we learn it costs us time, money, or both. This will be a learning experience for you and could lead in the end to more money in your first job, or finding a job faster.

It’s a drag it is so far away, but since it is temporary and only a couple days a week it is probably ok. Only you can decide in the end obviously.

Why not accept whatever interview has been arranged for the internship, show up with a portfolio of your work and negotiate for a paid position?

In general I’m in agreement with you about “giving it away for free”, but the internship is a form of exchange that the company makes, since it takes someone’s time (often “a group of someones”) to offer you experience and training that you lack. And employment law is so often slanted in favor of employees that it’s difficult for them to hire you for salaried or even hourly work (as a completely unknown quantity to them) and then have to go through the legal machinery required to terminate you later (and pay unemployment benefits, too, at that point).

You may even accept the internship, work a day or two without pay and in that time find a need that only you can satisfy, putting you in an even better position than the green-as-grass new job applicant.

I agree with @marinelife that you should think of it as a part of your education, perhaps the only part that is almost entirely up to you in terms of duration and “meaning”.

Good luck!

Seems to be SOP for internships. And you will get experience, which will be good on your resume.

Many of the internships are unpaid because if they were paid it could affect the amount of financial aid that a student would get. I know our internships are generally unpaid, but the interns are offered heavily discounted housing with the firm. We can’t make it totally free because then it becomes income for the intern.

Never work for free, never pay to work. Volunteer, but only for charitable causes. You would be better off with a part time job that pays.

I am probably not the best person to listen to because of my lifestyle, but if you came to me looking for work, and it said on your CV that you had worked for free, I would offer you $1 an hour, under the assumption that you are not too bright.

Everything costs something, so never work for fee. Minimum wage or above, always.

I was on reddit one day and saw someone asking for two good writers for a Windows tech blog (aimed entirely at consumer-end news, of course, like apps), and I jumped. I pretty much knew I could land it because I had the writing skill and, importantly, the enthusiasm about the subject matter.

I don’t get paid anything, but when I write, I make sure everything is as balanced, entertaining, and close to gramatically perfect as can be, just because I enjoy the challenge. I don’t share that same enthusiasm for the teen job I have rolling towels, even though I’m getting paid to do that. Not even the guy who is paid is as good as I am in the grammar department.

I get to say that I write for a tech blog, and that’s always worth something. I have honest, professional experience that someone who would rather wait and be paid before writing didn’t get. Finally, there’s the fact that I have to be invested enough and enthusiastic enough to do it all free.

Now, replace “reddit” with “job search,” “tech blog” with ”[type of businesses you are looking at],” and “writer/writing” with ”[your profession],” and you have a pretty good idea of what your first employer will read off of you with an internship.

I think they should offer some amount of compensation for gas/transit, but other than that, I see internships as more of an investment than a job.

On-job training, paid or not, is PRICELESS. Don’t think of it as working for no pay—think of it as investing in your career (even in that career turns out to be something different).

I did an unpaid internship in DC last summer and I don’t regret it one bit. It was tons (and I mean tons) of work but I gained experience that I couldn’t get anywhere else, and now I can say that I’ve worked for a U.S. senator. And if you go see your academic advisor at your school and run it by them, it is likely that you’ll be able to get school credit as well. Remember, while you might not be earning money from it, you will be gaining valuable experience and possibly school credit; it’s just a different form of exchange or payment than you’re used to, but worthwhile nonetheless.

Will you be getting school credit for this internship? If so, complaining that you aren’t getting paid to go is like complaining that you don’t get paid to attend class. If you aren’t getting credit, you’ll basically be a volunteer, not an intern.

Last summer, I wanted to intern at my local probation and parole office. They don’t pay interns and I was unable to get credit at that time. So, I volunteered (though they called me an intern) and got nothing as far as compensation. I worked for nearly 3 months at 38 hours a week, took over an entire caseload of offenders, and worked my ass off as an acting probation/parole agent. No fetching coffee and making copies for me.

This summer, I’m doing it again because I loved it so much. I’m getting credit, though still no pay, but I couldn’t get financial aid so I’ll be paying $1500 to do “free work.” It sucks, but it will hopefully pay off after graduation. 6 months of practical experience should look good on my résumé. Plus, the insanely flattering reference letter was payment in itself.

Should the companies pay interns? Maybe. But I think unpaid internships are just part of being a student. Landing a paid one is a nice bonus, but if you can’t, an unpaid internship is better than no internship at all.

Consider yourself paid in experience.

@poisonedantidote An employee seeing you worked your butt off for free only shows them how dedicated you were to the work. Volunteer work and/or internships look GREAT on resumes and employers love it. As for the suggestion about the part-time job, relevant experience is 100 times better than experience in an unrelated field. For instance, if I apply for a law enforcement job with a degree in criminal justice, I’d be way more likely to be hired with experience in law enforcement via an unpaid internship than part-time work experience as a bank teller.

Some colleges even require internships, paid or not. And they should – it’s priceless experience. Maybe so many new grads wouldn’t be out there searching for jobs years after graduating.

I think your keyword is “artist”. Graphic artist?
Paid jobs in the field are highly competitive and rapidly disappearing as major companies (print media) are outsourcing overseas. Even highly experienced artists are losing their jobs right now believe me, many of my good friends with 10+ years in the field are now redundant and working whatever they can find.

Jump on an internship that will give you good references, paid or not, or prepare to unload freight trucks or wait tables when you graduate.

I encourage my students to find internships and invariably they’re unpaid. Those companies take a risk when they agree to have a student come in for work experience. The likelihood of most being highly productive members of a team is about nil. They don’t know their trade yet. They may have some good skills, but they don’t have real world experience. That’s why they’re doing work experience.

If you are offered an internship at an organisation with a good reputation, grab it with both hands and thank them very much. If you go in there and work well there’s a good chance it could turn into a real job. Even if it’s part-time or casual. You may also meet mentors who know about other opportunities and can put your name forward. You will also learn about what it means to work as a graphic artist. I’m pretty sure there’s a lot more to it than being a good artist. That’s what you’re there to learn, the business.

So yes I think it’s fair. They are allowing an inexperienced and untried student into their workplace. That person will need to be supervised and have a paid employee shepard them as they spend their days learning what it’s like to work in their organisation. They aren’t ripping you off and I hope you won’t go in with that attitude or it’s likely the next student who applies for an internship will be told ‘we don’t give students work experience’.

You have no work experience, they are going to train you. I personally think you should be grateful for the opportunity to see how the real world of your chosen field works.

Well I guess the main thing about it is (because I didn’t point this out earlier) is that I know that this is a company that I ultimately would not want to work at in the future. I know that they usually hire people who intern for them in the long run, but I wonder how valuable that is to ME seeing that it’s not really my dream…..My main goal is to be a storyboard artist, hopefully at a major company like Disney, Nick, or CN. I applied to CN since I’m in the same city, but hadn’t heard anything. I think it is a combination of me not having any experience and my portfolio (while good) being on the small side. Until I can get in the door at one of my dream companies though, I figured that I could try to get some more experience just somewhere. I asked and have done research, and while this isn’t exactly what I want to do, graphic art experience is still good experience for storyboard work. I just don’t want y’all to be under the impression that this is like my dream company; a place that I will definitely be interested in in the future. I just wonder if it is even worth it, especially since I don’t want to work there in the future and should I just use this summer to instead expand my portfolio. :/ It’s a challenge. I asked my dad and he thinks I should do it, just only like 2 days a week. My mother and grandparents on the other hand are upset that they aren’t paying me anything at all and think I should just work on campus and use my free time on my portfolio. I’m leaning towards the internship though, it just…..idk I don’t feel like companies should be allowed to just give their people NOTHING. Yeah I understand that they are teaching you some stuff but to some degree I think any employee (in MY field anyway) would need some amount of training at that company right? Why is this any different? Like I said, I have done freelance stuff, just not “official” work…..

If you don’t see the value of the internship, let it go to someone who does want that experience.

but is experience still experience even if I don’t want work at the company later on? In my situation, is it still useful?

Of course it is! You’ve said you don’t have much work experience. Ignoring this company’s specific processes, you would be learning about how people in the graphic design field spend their days, how they work with customers, the sort of jobs that come in and how they get manage that process. How does a job go from an order to a final product in the real world. You are likely to get an overview of the sort of administritive work people in that field have to complete. How they really do use software and applications in the real world, rather than what you’re taught at uni. The list is endless.

And I say again, they are investing their time and money in whoever takes on an internship with them. You are an untried, inexperienced student at the bottom of the ladder.

As to wanting to work as a storyboard artist, is that an entry level job? It doesn’t sound like it. So where do most people who end up working in that job start? The last paragraph of this website about storyboard artist’s career paths says,

It is unlikely that a new graduate will find work immediately as a Storyboard Artist; it is more probable that they have worked their way through part of the animation studio system. Graduates from Art courses, such as Graphics or Illustration, who have an interest in film technique and story telling, could follow the same career path. Some live action Storyboard Artists move into animation, but it should be noted that the skills developed for commercials do not necessarily apply to longer format productions.

Another site about career paths to being a storyboard artist

I’m not trying to be harsh here, but the questions you are asking here suggest to me you really do have very limited work experience and perhaps an idealistic view of how the business world works. When you finish your degree, and I’m an academic, you’ve learned the basics. You now need to go and hone your skills more and learn how to operate in the business world. If you want to work as a storyboard artist, look for internships that will take you there but keep in mind you will be starting at the bottom and working your way up.

I mean I know that obviously it’s not an entry level job. I’m saying that it is my ultimate goal whereas the company I would be working for now doesn’t do stuff like that. I’m just a turned off at the fact that I’d be doing a lot of work for no money.

Regardless, it seems that if something huge doesn’t happen in the next two weeks, I’ll be doing the internship. I would go into a long explanation about a lot of my motives and doubts behind my career choices, internship choices, yadayadayada but fluther isn’t the place to share it lol

Thanks for all of your advice though. I really hope this ends up being worth it. I don’t have much money so I’ll try to find some other outlet on the side so I can have some type of extra cash

@cutiepi92 After your further explanation, I am more incined to say the internship sounds like a good idea. Do you by any chance have contact with someone in the companies you do want to work for? That is who to ask if the experience will help you. Very few people work at their fantasy company straight out of school. Working anywhere in your field will be vauable experience.

Do your grandparents have a college education? Do they work in a field where they have an understanding of the line of work you want to go into? I’m just curious, because if they don’t they might not be the best source if advice for this particular question, because they don’t have the experience. I’m not assuming, just asking. I think it is great you talk to them about life and choices in general, because age really does usually equal wisdom. Life experience is extremely valuable. But, the most important advice is from people in the field.

I agreed above that I think they should pay something, but it sounds like they don’t. Maybe none of them do? Can you talk to a college advisor maybe for advice? And, a jelly above recommended you might be able to get college credit for it, that is worth money.

Don’t do it if you hate the idea and think you won’t last until the end.

Just because you don’t want to work for that company doesn’t mean it won’t be useful. Most people, I’d guess, don’t go to work for the company they intern with. It’s still useful, relevant, real-life experience.

It’s a consequence of market economy. The supply of interns exceeds the demand. It depends on the field of expertise. There are far too many artists, but not enough IT specialists. That’s why IT interns get paid good money.