Unpaid Internships are okay

I've said it before, and I will say it again, I really like making money. The thought of me possibly having to go through a few months of getting up early and going to a job every single day freaks me out a little bit to begin with, but adding the element of not getting paid, it nearly brings me to tears. Despite this, I understand there is a reason for this.

I feel like there is a growing sense of entitlement in the people around me, and it kind of bothers me. I don't think there is any problem with the concept of "paying your dues" if that means I have to get you coffee and bagels every day for three months without getting paid when I could be working on my tan, then okay fine, as long as I can make as much, or preferably more, money as you do one day. If other people aren't willing to stoop to that level, awesome. Less competition.

Getting rid of the idea of unpaid internships will be disastrous for absolutely everyone involved. Many companies may not be able to pay their interns, they aren't withholding a salary for their own sick enjoyment. If they cannot have unpaid interns, they may have to result to not having interns at all. Now their real employees will have to do the intern's work, and may have lower job performance on their intended job. Even worse, the opportunities gained by a student having an internship will be lost. All of the resume building material and experience is gone. This will make it even harder than it already is to get a job.

I do agree with the restrictions that are set in place, there is a fine line between an unpaid internship and slave labour, and I would hate to be the one who had to cross it. Like any situation, there is going to be some gray area, but perhaps more enforcement of the criteria is a better solution than abolishing the practice as a whole. 

With all that said, I really hope I luck out and get a paid internship. An unpaid internship is not very lucrative to me, I don't need extra college credits all that badly. I think that the trick is being able to identify the cost versus benefit of the situation that you're going to be in. At the end of the day, if you aren't cool with having an unpaid internship, don't take one.