Unpaid internships : common but illegal.

themattsmith:

24isthenew25:

themattsmith:

inkyeagle:

(via soupsoup)

I had a professor once who told us we should never take an unpaid internship because it devalues our work. As he put it, “working for no money - it’s called slavery”

Try being the recording school graduate that says “I’m not doing any work until someone pays me for it”.  I’ll see you in a couple years when I need to ship something or need to buy something from Guitar Center.

The industry is built on slave labor- it separates the hard-working wheat from the entitled chaff.  Right or not, it is what it is.

I would disagree with the above statement, only in that “the entitled chaff” really are the only ones that can afford to work for free.

Nope.  Not to be the “I did it and so can everyone else” guy, but I paid for school with student loans.  I owe 50 thousand dollars.  I left school with nothing but an education and a reasonably understanding fiance.  I went a couple months without a job, I cashed in savings bonds 5 years early for a quarter of their value so I could help buy groceries.  I interviewed at a coffee shop and was turned down because they suspected I would leave as soon as I found a job in my field (no shit).  I took an internship because it was a foot in the door of the thing that would eventually pay for my house, and my kid.  I continued to skimp by on the rapidly dwindling generosity of my fiance.  I got the job because I worked hard for no money and proved that the investment in me was worth it.  I played the game.

It’s not as simple as “the rich kids are the only ones that can afford to intern”.

Entitlement is not just about money.

Enititlement means that you think that just because you got a degree, you shouldn’t have to struggle, shouldn’t have to worry, shouldn’t have to be good, shouldn’t have to get a little lucky.

I agree 100% with themattsmith.  I’ve had both paid internships and unpaid internships.  I was lucky that my parents paid for my undergrad (a great and very very affordable state school with some merit scholarships lowering the costs further) and I took out an unspeakable amount of loans for law school.  All the while, I took whichever internships I thought would help with my career, as well as some internships/jobs that would give me pocket money. 

Bottom line is that people who say that they will only work for money come across as entitled pricks (unless of course they have family to support or other crucial expenses that loans don’t cover).  Until this country joins more progressive nations that pay for students’ education, we will continue to be a country whose students take out loans and occasionally take unpaid internships.