What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

[Sload Soap]

Unpaid internships are totally unfair, and it's hard to even get in on THEM these days. It's worse in some fields than others, but it's such a shame that you have to work your butt off to just get the opportunity to work for free, so you can put it on a resume.

I have to disagree. Experience is gold, and you have to leap at every opportunity. Showing that you strive to want experience and education in a certain field and are willing to spend your time doing so means more than a degree these days. You need to work your tail off for free to get ahead, and when an opportunity is available you jump and ask "how high?".

This article disagrees with your disagreement, Luke. There has been some call over here to make those kind of unpaid internships illegal. Personally I can see the value but only if employment is guaranteed at the end. Otherwise it's too easy for a company to see it as free labor which many do.

[MrPopo]

A proper internship is a two way street between the intern and the company. The intern is obviously getting work experience, while the company gets a chance to mold the intern with useful skills beyond the book learning and a chance to get first dibs on the intern when they're ready to go full time. So they should be paying the intern for this.

[Luke]

This article disagrees with your disagreement, Luke. There has been some call over here to make those kind of unpaid internships illegal. Personally I can see the value but only if employment is guaranteed at the end. Otherwise it's too easy for a company to see it as free labor which many do.

At no point did I say "Don't strive for a paid internship" or "A paid internship isn't better". My point that was networking and volunteering couldn't hurt.

"But for those who choose to volunteer their time at an unpaid internship, don’t call it slave labor. Sure, unpaid internships are voluntary, classist, and unnecessary. That doesn’t change that they are voluntary."

^That's basically what I meant to convey, from the same article you posted.

[Flake]

Smile: Got to bring my step-daughter to the office today. It was kinda neat to show the kiddo the how and why of my job.

Crooked Smile: She was disappointed to find out that the exciting, fast-paced life of the network security administrator is less robots and explosions and more command line and tickets.

[Stark]

Smile: Got to bring my step-daughter to the office today. It was kinda neat to show the kiddo the how and why of my job.

Crooked Smile: She was disappointed to find out that the exciting, fast-paced life of the network security administrator is less robots and explosions and more command line and tickets.

Aww, cute. I had my daughter ask me when I got home once if I had "saved the day" and I just said "well someone who's phone wasn't working, now is." She seemed to think that fit the bill.

[Sload Soap]

This article disagrees with your disagreement, Luke. There has been some call over here to make those kind of unpaid internships illegal. Personally I can see the value but only if employment is guaranteed at the end. Otherwise it's too easy for a company to see it as free labor which many do.

At no point did I say "Don't strive for a paid internship" or "A paid internship isn't better". My point that was networking and volunteering couldn't hurt.

"But for those who choose to volunteer their time at an unpaid internship, don’t call it slave labor. Sure, unpaid internships are voluntary, classist, and unnecessary. That doesn’t change that they are voluntary."

^That's basically what I meant to convey, from the same article you posted.

Sorry, I slightly misread what you wrote. That said according to figures the bolded statement isn't really true. Across the board when we talk about unpaid internships, you would be equally as likely to land a job from not taking on an internship.

"Students, as you finish up your applications for this summer’s internship programs, remember: you are better off getting paid. You are worth more than chronic volunteer work. Don’t fall for the unpaid internship trap. And if you’re considering taking an unpaid internship in fashion, journalism, or media, remember: your hard work will probably not pay off.".

This paragraph, following the one you quoted, was basically what I'm trying to convey. If you are going to volunteer do it for a charity not for a business.

[aaron]

Smile: Got to bring my step-daughter to the office today. It was kinda neat to show the kiddo the how and why of my job.

Crooked Smile: She was disappointed to find out that the exciting, fast-paced life of the network security administrator is less robots and explosions and more command line and tickets.

Aww, cute. I had my daughter ask me when I got home once if I had "saved the day" and I just said "well someone who's phone wasn't working, now is." She seemed to think that fit the bill.

this made me laugh way harder than it should have

[AmishSamurai]

Smile: Got to bring my step-daughter to the office today. It was kinda neat to show the kiddo the how and why of my job.

Crooked Smile: She was disappointed to find out that the exciting, fast-paced life of the network security administrator is less robots and explosions and more command line and tickets.

Aww, cute. I had my daughter ask me when I got home once if I had "saved the day" and I just said "well someone who's phone wasn't working, now is." She seemed to think that fit the bill.

That is incredibly cute.

[Luke]

If you are going to volunteer do it for a charity not for a business.

I agree, wholeheartedly. Finding charities that aren't businesses is quite a mountain to climb. You have to take a step back and know when some people deserve their share, as plenty of priests drive BMW's, but with an hour or so of research you can usually peg the "honorable" charities.


About the "Bring the child to work day"...anyone remember the episode of The Wonder Years when Kevin's Father was chewed out in front of him? That was soul crushing.

[Hobie-wan]

She was disappointed to find out that the exciting, fast-paced life of the network security administrator is less robots and explosions and more command line and tickets.

Obviously you need to hint that daddy needs a USB missle launcher for his birthday.