Internships are a great way for students and potential candidates to make connections as well as get hands-on experience. However, most internships are unpaid and this causes a lot of problems for those looking for work experience. Most people probably don't even think twice about what could possibly be wrong with an internship well I can name a few to start.
For one when an internship is unpaid that means they expect the candidate to make time to do all the work that normally someone would be hired to do but they get no money to compensate them. This is a huge issue as many people need to also be making money to pay for their other expenses such as rent, schooling, groceries, and more. Being unpaid means that only those with the luxury of not having to earn money can actually participate.
Another issue is that most internships want the hours of a normal career. This means that you're dedicating a large portion of time without the capability of having a paying job. Again your basically doing a job that someone would normally be hired into doing.
Now that isn't to say that there are not benefits to internships. One is making connections to people who actually work in the industry that you are trying to get into to. Another is being able to put that you have real-life experience in the area you are trying to break through.
Internships can be an amazing experience for many.
At the very least you begin to make connections to help you find a job after it ends. However, when most internships are unpaid many will not get that opportunity to have those advantages in the job market. When you have to work a job in retail, or in food instead of taking an internship because you need some type of income it makes you less appealing than the candidate who did have the luxury of being in an unpaid internship.
In the end, though it would be more beneficial to offer some compensation or give hours that allow for those doing the internships to be able to make money at a different job.
Right now unpaid internships simply weed out those who are on the lower end of the economic end.
This is essentially minimizing opportunities for those that desperately need it. For most experience is almost a must for getting a job out of college however with the expensive living costs of having an unpaid internship isn't an option for most.
