The Brainchild of Unpaid Internships: The Nazis
"Your work at a factory will help build Deutschland" was probably belted out of the propaganda ridden speakers on a routine basis in Nazi Germany. Replace factory with 'internship' and Deutschland with 'your career' and you're listening to the same BS projecting from your college adviser's scam ridden mouth. The only difference is the person you're hearing this from doesn't have an odd little mustache. Or do they . . .
Instead of wasting your time wondering why certain college majors require the completion of an internship, because many already do, ask why not? From their viewpoint, the benefits are endless. Pimping out student interns to businesses adds connections to the school, potential fund donations, fees for the internship “course” and the department doesn’t have to pay for a teacher or equipment. All they have to do is continue blindfolding students from seeing the real picture.
Let me first throw out the disclaimer that not all internships are unpaid. There are a select few internships that follow the normal human principle of giving a paycheck to a person that does work for the company. Not pointing my finger at those. However, the majority of internships offer indentured servitude; oops, I mean "for-credit" positions. Allow me to let you in on a secret, "for-credit" is code for free labor. Some cake eating administrator coined the term; he thought it sounded a bit jazzier.
"With job openings scarce for young people, the number of unpaid internships has climbed in recent years, leading federal and state regulators to worry that more employers are illegally using such internships for free labor." And to this, the index finger's pissed off neighbor is raised.
The hyenas that support unpaid internships preach the so-called benefits of said position: experience, class credit, learning how to hustle, opportunity to get your foot in the door. How noble of an idea, put in hard work and reap the rewards later on. The American dream. The concept is just like buying something on credit that you can't afford; you're only kidding yourself. The American nightmare. Beneath the surface of this utopian concept, the true beneficiary is not who you would expect: the employer.
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