Want an Unpaid Internship So You Can Get Valuable Experience ?

Re:Want an Unpaid Internship So You Can Get Valuable Experie... by timmaah on Saturday September 05, 2009 @11:42AM (#806642)

I understand that.. but the fact that the white house and politicians he rails against have interns show that they think it is a positive experience.

They also know a for-profit business should be paying their workers.

(Not to say I agree one way or the other. It is a fine line between experience and exploitation)

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Re:Want an Unpaid Internship So You Can Get Valuable Experie... by cwan on Saturday September 05, 2009 @11:54AM (#806660)

re: "It is a fine line between experience and exploitation" - shouldn't the person getting the experience/being exploited be the arbiter of that rather than some random bureaucrat?

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Re:Want an Unpaid Internship So You Can Get Valuable Experie... by timmaah on Saturday September 05, 2009 @12:02PM (#806670)

In a perfect world yes.. but in the real world that is the reason there are labor unions.

If you complete a 6 month internship we will give you a job. And keep stringing the person along.. etc..

I think a good compromise would limit an internship to 3 months, afterwards you have to pay. And the employee has to be in a college or degree program or 2 years out of one. And somehow limit it so Burger King can't make you work 3 months for free.

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Re:Want an Unpaid Internship So You Can Get Valuable Experie... by cwan on Saturday September 05, 2009 @12:53PM (#806749)

In the real world, labor unions have largely outlived their usefulness which is why firms in industries where they dominate find themselves either dying or bankrupt and why there has been a steady decline in membership.

I'll bite though, how is it (in an imperfect or perfect world) that these unpaid interns are unable to be the arbiters of whether or not an unpaid internship "has value" to them?

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