Benefits Of Unpaid Internship

Jinke Li

Elder Hanna

ENGL 096/101

P.Argument

Final draft

12/8/2013

Why Unpaid Internship Is A Good Thing?

Internships are opportunities that many students take before or after graduating from college. Whether paid or unpaid, they are beneficial to students. Some people may not accept unpaid internships because they think that unpaid internships are unfair. However, they forget one fact: internships are processes which can help them to get good jobs later.

Nowadays, there have been angry voices raised against internships from people who feel that they are badly treated and exploited. I am not going to defend every unpaid internship, as I am sure that there are bad employers for interns as well as good ones. However, in principle, internship follow a different set of rules than regular employment, and a successful internship usually has nothing to do with whether or not you are being paid. So what are the objectors saying and how should we assess internships?

Some people suppose that unpaid internship is illegal. They cannot accept that interns work for free. Actually, unpaid internships aren't inherently unlawful. According to the Department of Labor, they can be legal as long as they meet these guidelines: Though the internship might benefit the employer, the training given to the intern is similar to the training given in an educational environment, and it clearly benefits the intern and both the employer and the intern understand and agree that no wages will be awarded to the intern for the internship. Shannon Dauphin Lee, who is a highly experienced freelance writer, said " many unpaid internships do comply with these criteria, but the legalities surrounding them could stay in the spotlight for quite some time, as the...

... middle of paper ...

.... Even if you are only doing general office work like copying and data entry, these skills will still be very valuable when you are looking for an entry-level position.

By overview, unpaid internship is not so bad as most of objectors image. We give up the opportunity to make some cash working a minimum-wage job, but we gain a lot from the experience as well. We might feel proud of or respected for getting impressive internships. They might look good on our resumes. Or the skills and experiences may enhance our prospects for future earnings. We might even enjoy them. All these nonmonetary and intangible benefits must be taken into consideration when choosing whether to accept an unpaid internship. Of course, internships can have their downfalls in which they may not be taken as seriously as a ‘real world’ job but the pros that internships offer outweigh the cons.