Internship is the opportunity given by employers to potential employees called interns, to work in their firm for a fixed and limited time. The length of the process is usually one week to one year. According to WikiJob, interns are usually university graduates or students that don't have any experience being an employee yet.
Though most people see internship as a huge step between present formal education and career in the future, roughly half of interns are not being paid for their rendered work. Others might say that unpaid internship is better than not having any at all. But others see it as worse and even unlawful.
On the one hand, The Atlantic discussed the various negative effects of unpaid internship. One of which is immorality. Employers should know how to value the skill and effort every intern provides for the team. And not providing the equal compensation for every job rendered is not ethical.
Unpaid internship also lowers the chance of getting high wages for everyone and even devalues the actual work being done. Interns would be more inclined to give their full effort to the company if only employers would financially invest to them. They will surely do their best and will be more productive. But as these interns work for free, the value of their work is sure be at stake.
On the other hand, Investopedia focused more on the positive side of unpaid internship and listed several positive effects of it. It offers valuable practical application experience to employers or students. The experience provides students with a period of growth by applying what they've learned into the real world. This is their first chance to get a highly attractive working experience in their CV. It also provides the intern with experiences that could broaden their interest and develop more skills that could be productive to their field.
In our economic climate at present, students should already consider the things that can improve their future financial stability even at an early age. So paid or unpaid internship, you have to push yourself to maximize every benefit you will get from it. Do your best to create a secured and stress-free life ahead.
