People Working For Free? Vent

[Hera]

I am just finishing my interior desgn degree and I''m completing an internship requirement for school at a design firm and the company has hired an "intern" for free. The thing is that she''s already a graduate and has already done her internship with another company while she was in school. She wanted an unpaid position with the company so she could get her foot in the door. It places me out of range for a position there and doesn''t seem too fair for her. Can''t really figure why this bugs me so much. I''m not sure I would''ve accepted a position there anyways. Ugghhhhh

 

[Pandora II]

The company I work for now I worked for for free for 5 months. It''s the only way to get a foot in the door in politics.

I''m about to hire an intern - I spoke to another office who have more experience in this and they said I should expect to get at least 40 applicants

. They do as rigerous an interview as they would for a paying job.

When I was in the design field, I did a 3 month unpaid internship - I got a paid job at the end so it was worth it. But I''d done 4 other free internships before that.

It''s one of those things sadly - especially in creative industries!

 

[LegacyGirl]

This is what you do when you are in law school too. I''ve got the best job now because I offered to work for free. I''m also a volunteer mediator and I get connections that way. I still work for free as a judicial intern and I work my ass off so in the future I hope to get assignments from that judge.

It''s a great way to get your foot in the door anywhere and I would not have the job I have today because of it.

 

[Gemma12]

This actually happens a bit in medicine in Australia. If you want a position in dermatology, or in certain paediatric subspecialities, a lot of people have to work for free for a year. They sometimes do a bit of research on the side and get a stipend for that-which keeps the wolves from the door but isn''t exactly rolling in $-usually about $15,000-$20,000.

 

[Haven]

Teachers have to student teach for a term, too, so not only are we unpaid but we have to PAY tuition for the student teaching credit hours. (At least that''s how it worked for me when I earned my first master''s in teaching.)

SO, I actually PAID my college $3,500 to teach full-time for an entire term. It sounds like this happens in many different professions, judging from the other responses.

 

[Hera]

Well, I''ve had time to chill out. Now that I''m hearing others have been through this I feel a whole lot better. At the beginning of the semester I had asked my professor if I should work for someone I want to in the summer for free and he told me not to do that. That doing that would be selling myself short. I guess maybe I will consider that for myself when the summer comes along. Maybe it''s not about selling yourself short after all.

Thanks for your responses. They were greatly appreciated

 

[neatfreak]

I think it''s very normal to do that in many areas...so I wouldn''t let it get to you. Unfortunately it is all a part of the game.

 

[steph72276]

I agree it''s all part of the game.....I did get paid a small amount during a 1 year internship I did, but it was minimum wage...that''s just how it goes sometimes to get the experience and get your foot in the door.

 

[mimzy]

i know you''re already feeling better about it, but just just wanted to chime in that that happens here a lot here too. my FI is a software engineer (a great one at that

) and when he was having a hard time getting a job he was prepared to offer a company to work for free as an intern if he wasn''t offered the position (luckily he was!)

good luck. you''re bound to find something......that pays you

 

[LitigatorChick]

I hear your pain, Heranderson. I spent a lot of time determining whether I would take a judicial clerkship following law school, a highly sought position, but the pay was very very low. So low I could barely afford to live. Luckily, DH was able to find enough money in his job to survive for the 10 month clerkship. Now, I am glad I did it, but it really sucks that I almost was denied this opportunity because I could not afford it.

 

[Hera]

Thank you alll for your replies!

Well, I'm not sure I've chosen good places to do my internship. I chose a residential and a commercial design firm thinking it was a good thing to diversify. I still need the hours to graduate but maybe I should leave one of them and find a place that is actually hiring. Like I said before, one of the design firms just brought on an unpaid already graduated intern and the other place is a nightmare. She thinks that interns get in the way and are just a big problem. She really mean to me

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 2/13/2008 11:25:13 PM
Author: Haven
Teachers have to student teach for a term, too, so not only are we unpaid but we have to PAY tuition for the student teaching credit hours. (At least that''s how it worked for me when I earned my first master''s in teaching.)

SO, I actually PAID my college $3,500 to teach full-time for an entire term. It sounds like this happens in many different professions, judging from the other responses.

Some programs, like the one at my school, required its students to do a year-long internship. It was a great experience getting to know the students from the very beginning of the year. We got to end the year with them as well, and it was cool to see how much they had changed from the start of school. It''s hard paying tuition, etc. and teaching for free, but I''m glad to know that it''s not the only profession out there that requires it.

 

[MsP]

I''m having a hard time understanding this as well because my undergraduate is in a field that ALWAYS pays their interns. My other field of interest is one which rarely pays. Going from being paid $22/hr as an engineering intern to being asked to work for $0.00/hr is really hard. It makes me question myself on my career choices because it seems like the more education I get under my belt the less they''re paying me.