Tales of a lowly intern. Okay, working without pay is not all it’s cracked up to be. Believe it or not, waking up to go to a place where everyone is awaiting your arrival is not necessarily a reason to feel loved.

From the standpoint of the college intern it’s like being thrown to the sharks. They are waiting not because they love you but because an intern’s job is to do the work that no one else wants to do. All in the name of “experience”. And although getting a job out of college without experience is nearly impossible, getting that required experience is enough to make you want to quit school all together.

First of all, you’re working for free. Yes, there are units for interning (up to 6) but c’mon 3 units for four months of work at 20 hours a week? That is nowhere near fair compensation. 320 hours of free labor is what it is. Is this not illegal? We are still America right? This should constitute unfair labor practices. The student is also losing time that could be spent working at a job that actually pays. It is nearly impossible to maintain a paying job and an internship while attending college.

The problem is not just the money aspect. There is also the time taken away from homework and studying not to mention the loss of dignity. Yes, dignity. There is not much dignity in running errands, making coffee, and returning calls from bogus leads.

This is why the intern is hired in the first place. Interns are not hired because companies enjoy training inexperienced colleges students, it is because they will do the undesirable jobs and not only will they do the undesirable jobs, they will be grateful for the opportunity to do them. These people are making out like bandits. They would have to be idiots not to hire interns. Can you say, “cost effective?”

Of course, there is the other side. Interning can possibly open doors that might otherwise be closed to inexperienced college graduates. There does exist the success stories of interns past who have made it to the top of their field. It can be difficult though to see that dim light at the end of the tunnel when surrounded by a dark stack of paperwork, screaming telephones and coffee grinds. Visualizing eventual company ownership may help for a while but four months is a long time, especially when they are no guarantees that a permanent paying job, with benefits, will follow.

Pretty much the only hope for the free laborers is gaining units toward the degree that will eventually give some credibility to all of the hard work. Although the actual amount of units is ridiculously low, it is a necessary step in receiving some sort of validation. The validation is a diploma that signifies a passing of the baton and once the baton is passed, the once lowly intern is in the position to hire her own free laborer.