Marco is taking a strong stance against unpaid internships. I strongly agree, but with a but. Many companies have completely lost the idea of what an intern should be. While I was hunting for my (required) college internship, the first company wanted to take me as a camera/steadicam operator, so I could train another guy to do the same job. I shot them down, and got a different internship. This one was at a news station, where I sat in on the 3-D post production room, and gained a ton of skills in After Effects and Cinema 4D that my college could never teach me. That station hired me the day after my internship ended.
An unpaid internship where you are actually learning skills can be fair, espcially if you’re learning them as thoroughly and quickly as I did at the news station. Things change when the intern is offering services to the company that they previously weren’t privy to. Internships turn into absolute bullshit when “intern” starts to mean “coffee runner,” “mail boy” or “office bitch.”
Standing in line in the post office is not how you gain experience in the movie/music/internet/fashion industry. A lot of businesses need to re-examine the differences between “intern” and “assistant.”
Agreed. I had an unpaid internship in collections at the largest children’s museum in the country (google it). I created an exhibit, learned about collections management, archiving, collections care, and restoration. They also shuttled me to other area museums to learn from those professionals too, as well as many professional development seminars with other interns. They spent money on me to be there, so I was ok with not getting paid. Also, I worked my ass off an extra 30 hours a week at a restaurant to pay for it. I’m really happy with the experience.
Unpaid internships aren’t always terrible … internships where YOU have to pay THEM? Now that’s loony….
