The Dark Side of Unpaid Internships

Time and time again I have heard horror stories about interns being overworked and underpaid at their internships. In fields like advertising and marketing, participating in unpaid internships is virtually a necessity, both to get experience, and to get your foot in the door. But in this economy, many companies are all too willing to take advantage of the free labor that eager students have to offer.

There is a fine line between a healthy internship, and an unhealthy one. Many 20-somethings have found themselves over worked and underpaid for their time, effort and energy in a particular position. In high pace, creative fields like ours, seemingly simple tasks like managing social media or blogging can become 24 hour responsibilities, and an easy place for us to be unknowingly taken advantage of. When is it an appropriate time for us to put our foot down? How do we know if this is happening to us? Is there any way out?

The New York Times tackles these questions, and gets real life input, from both sides of the coin, as to why and how are generation has been subjected to these “no-limit jobs” and what should be changed.

Read the full article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/fashion/for-20-somethings-ambition-at-a-cost.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&