Confessions of an Intern: Please Pay the Interns Response
For the record, I am not necessarily a proponent of a student getting $$$ for their internships (wouldn’t that be dandy?). I’m more interested in the issue of places justifying unpaid JOBS under the guise of an “internship”.
So if you’re a full-time student with a part-time “for credit” internship… that’s normal. and generally fair.
aren’t most of these internships illegal then? Why don’t labor laws apply?
It’s a gray area between legal/illegal… but that’s where I think the industry sometimes lacks in morals.
It is not illegal as long as you are receiving school credit in place of monetary compensation. That’s why these places are so adamant about the “for credit” thing.
Well, that and insurance liability reasons.
Breaks are also required by law. I only worked one place where this wasn’t observed… but legally, if you’re working a full day you should get 1 hour + two 15 minute breaks.
That’s one thing that I personally waver on as a part of “paying my dues”. You’ll probably have to skip lunches/breaks a lot. So eat while you work if you have to.
Though, I do think lunch should always be ordered/provided in that situation. But you should bring something to munch on just in case ;)
if people try to take a stand on the issue… there is ALWAYS another person willing to do it for free
Yupp. It’s really tough.
Do what you can for school credit. It doesn’t hurt to ASK about lunch/travel stipend. But at a point, you will get walked alllll over. I interned for free, great, but once I had done enough to stop getting that experience in return… I had to put my foot down and stop working for free.
If I find another situation where I’ll be learning to do a job I haven’t already done, I will gladly take another internship & not demand money in return.
they offered me a free pass to their annual festival (which they don’t give to a lot of interns).The free stuff is always awesome! These are perks though, not pay, and don’t let it fool you.
Tags: advice · confessions of an Intern · internships
this is really intriguing and really very true. i think this is one of the reasons why it is so difficult to get a PAID job in the fashion industry. although sadly i doubt things will change because so many people are willing to do the work for free :/
good luck job hunting jazzi!
xoxo