By SAM CROCKER
Managing Editor
If you’re past your freshman year in college, odds are you have already investigated the concept of internships. Real-life work experience with companies and organizations that you want to work for after graduation is seen as an essential part of a college education today. I was advised when considering internships that employers won’t even pick up your resume for “entry-level” jobs unless they see you have at least one internship under your belt.
It is with this warning in mind that I set out on my first expedition to find a reputable internship. However, once I started searching for internships, I was concerned to notice that many of the positions I wanted to apply for required me to already have completed an internship. This didn’t make sense to me, given that this was the position I needed to get before I could apply for entry-level jobs. If these internships were “learning experiences,” as they were being classed, then shouldn’t candidates be judged on their ability to learn, and not their lack of experience?
More worryingly, I became aware that the majority of the internships that I was applying for offered little to no pay. This really would not concern me, given that the primary reason I am doing an internship is to gain real-life experience and not to make money. However, it is concerning that companies are willing to offer such valuable opportunities without providing the ability for everybody to take part.
Being the ambitious so-and-so that I am, many of the top internships that I wanted to apply for were in New York City. It is sad to know that I could have been the perfect candidate for one of those internships, but could not apply because I was unable to live in one of the most expensive cities in the world for an entire summer without a paycheck. It is a rather shameful welcome to the world of work when even the top internships have become elitist.
What is even more appalling is that companies are well aware of the way they are holding students ransom. As the global job market has become increasingly competitive, companies have looked at ways to cut salary costs without violating employment law. In America, and many other developed countries, this meant more internships with less pay. Internships were made more valuable for job prospects, making students more reliant on getting them, which enabled the pay to be neglected in order to “gain valuable experience.”
Companies know that students need internships to get entry-level jobs, so without proper legislation it becomes a race to the bottom to find the candidates who are not just willing, but able to work for the least.
What is most worrying is that this trend continues to expand. Internships are now being substituted for entry-level jobs in order for companies to receive unregulated, unpaid labor. The U.S. government has attempted to end this practice, to little avail. It is not uncommon to hear of college graduates taking internship positions.
Neither it is uncommon to hear of college graduates who have taken four or five internships over a number of years and are still waiting to be offered a full-time job. Students should be taking positions to gain experience that prepares them for the workforce, not to give free labor as a requirement for only potentially earning in the future. This type of internship culture needs to end.
