there was a similar lawsuit not that long ago involving a movie studio. three unpaid interns sued and made identical claims that their work was entirely errand-running and had no educational value.
what's tough about industries like movies and fashion is that everyone knows each other, and so interns typically won't say anything for fear or killing their chances at a job within the industry as a whole.
it's a similar story in the field i work in, which has a lot of summer-only opportunities. organizations are starting to realize that instead of paying a college kid $9/hr to do the work, they can just call the job an "internship" and get the same college kid to do it, but for free. and who is ever going to complain, because everyone is desperate for even experience alone.
but take enough unpaid internships, accrue enough debt, and then maybe you can get that entry-level job that pays all of $25,000 per year. whoopie!
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there was a similar lawsuit not that long ago involving a movie studio. three unpaid interns sued and made identical claims that their work was entirely errand-running and had no educational value.
what's tough about industries like movies and fashion is that everyone knows each other, and so interns typically won't say anything for fear or killing their chances at a job within the industry as a whole.
it's a similar story in the field i work in, which has a lot of summer-only opportunities. organizations are starting to realize that instead of paying a college kid $9/hr to do the work, they can just call the job an "internship" and get the same college kid to do it, but for free. and who is ever going to complain, because everyone is desperate for even experience alone.
but take enough unpaid internships, accrue enough debt, and then maybe you can get that entry-level job that pays all of $25,000 per year. whoopie!
March 20, 2012 at 7:29 a.m.