Paying to work for free

The issue of unpaid internships is really coming to the forefront lately. And with good reason.

With so many jobless and many going back to school, internships seem like a great way to break into an industry. Yet companies are sprouting to take advantage of the already broke and indebt (students).

The New York Times ran this article about companies charging students to find them an internship. And this is not minimal fees. The companies listed charge approximately $5000-8000 to provide the student with an UNpaid internship. This is ridiculous! Not only is the person working for free, they must pay this middleman to find the position for them.

Internships seem like a great idea, but unpaid ones seem like grounds for exploitation. I think very short unpaid internships are great. You get an inside look at the offices and going ons. Get to meet the people and learn more about the work. But an unpaid internship for longer than a few months just seems ridiculous.

How can you expect quality work from someone without even paying them minimum wage? How is someone supposed to live off no income at all? I've seen internships advertised, without pay for upwards of a year. It's not like going to school, where one can apply for scholarships or loans either. The person is committing 40 hours a week to unpaid work. It's terribly unfair.