In theory, the purpose of an unpaid internship is to gain experience and wisdom in the professional world while building a network of business connections. However, the truth is: unpaid internships aren’t good for businesses or unpaid workers and they most definitely should not be a priority over our studies, curriculars and other more substantive endeavours.
I’ve been searching for summer internships on LinkedIn and Handshake almost compulsively this school year. Having been through the process twice, I anticipate the “I’m excited to announce that I will be working for” notifications in my LinkedIn feed around this time of year. However, I’m curious how many of these internships are actually paid. Unsurprisingly, 41% of all internships were unpaid, according to a study concluded by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
Not paying young, developing workers disincentivizes them based on the mere fact that they aren’t rewarded. Disincentivization affects the quality of work produced and puts young laborers in an awkward position in which they feel obligated rather than motivated to do their job. Motivation and the production of meaningful work are best achieved through a reward-based system.
What if the young worker doesn’t care about being paid and just wants to expand the scope of their abilities? After all, isn’t gaining work experience the whole point of internships? Well, if that’s really what you’re looking for, then I would say that we should probably reexamine what it means for someone to actually work for a company.
For one, you can’t be paid unless you’re hired, meaning that unpaid interns are not real employees — they’re just there to learn, so there’s not much of a difference between having a “corporate mentorship” and an unpaid internship. The experience of being an unpaid intern functions better alongside the definition of what a mentor is. It’s more distinctive. To have a mentor means to have an “experienced and trusted advisor” who provides guidance, advice and feedback concerning the mentee’s performance in some of the mentor’s roles and responsibilities at the company.
The difference between a mentorship and an unpaid internship matters more than students might think. According to NACE researcher Joshua Kahn, students who had majority unpaid internships received roughly the same percentage of job opportunities as those with no internship experience. In terms of helping you find a job, unpaid internships might provide you with the experience you need but will not help you climb the corporate ladder. Even if your unpaid internship provides you with adequate experience, it may also set the precedent that you are willing to work without pay.
We must not let the skills we develop as college students go to waste. College is already expensive, and we should be rewarded for the time we put in. These are the experiences that carry us into adulthood.
There is virtually no use in prioritizing your unpaid internship over your studies or being hired as a real employee. As opposed to getting rid of unpaid internships, I propose we treat them as mentorships: an excellent learning opportunity but not one that should overshadow our other career and learning opportunities.
