Unpaid Internships Lead To Lower-Paying Jobs, Study Finds (theguardian.com)

The Guardian reports: Almost every graduate taking an unpaid internship can expect to be worse off three years later than if they had gone straight into work. That is the shock finding of the first survey of its kind of the career trajectories of tens of thousands of students over a six-year period. The study, conducted by the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex, reveals that, three-and-a-half years after graduating, former interns face a salary penalty of approximately £3,500, compared with those who went straight into paid work, and £1,500 compared with those who went into further study... The study also found that those who took internships were less likely to go on to professional or managerial roles or be satisfied with their career compared with those who had gone straight into work.
Slashdot reader BarbaraHudson warns unpaid internships are also "a possible indicator of a large oversupply of workers to jobs available and downward pressure on pay." Anyone else want to share thoughts about the current job market for professionals -- or your own horror stories about your first job after college?

Comments

This was a study not experiment, correlation only

[itwasgreektome]

There is a great danger in inferring causation here, as this was a survey and not an experiment (with people randomly assigned to either group). The article wrongly states there is causation at play- that going into an internship caused them to be paid less later, rather than a real possibility that those that couldn't get jobs (or well paying jobs) decided to go the intern route instead. And those that got accepted into well paying jobs took them. So the cause might well be that the lesser paid or non-existent jobs caused the internship rather than the reverse.

Re:"shock finding"?

[BarbaraHudson]

People are being told that an unpaid internship will improve your chances on the job market, and they obviously believe it or they wouldn't do them. And yet, 3 years later they're still behind in earnings, and they're less likely to be working in their field of choice. Probably would have been better off taking a job in something else just to pay the bills while looking for an opening.

Students are being ripped off twice - once by the university, which charges for the time they're working for free, and the second time by the business they're working for free at. So you're not working for free - you're paying to work. At least slaves got fed on their master's dime.

Employers aren't allowed to use unpaid interns to do the jobs of regular employees, so the internship doesn't even give you experience actually doing the job - and employers know this.

You also don't get the same protections as regular employees. For example, don't get hurt on the job - since your wage is $0.00, workmen's compensation will be a percentage of $0.00, which is $0.00. Your only recourse would be a civil suit, and you can expect both the school and the company to say the other party is responsible for any loss.

The only internships worth anything in the eyes of future employers are paid internships. That's also how you should evaluate them - same as any other job. If you want to work for free, do it for a charity. Better yet, arrange for your internship to be at a charity - at least this way you haven't devalued yourself by working for free at a for-profit business.

Re:"shock finding"?

[BarbaraHudson]

The problem with that, and it's pointed out in the article, is that people who take unpaid internships end up not just with lower future earnings, but also are more likely to end up in a field other than their chosen one.

A little experience at ANY paid job is probably better than unpaid experience. Unlike the unpaid interns, who aren't allowed to replace regular workers (and as a result don't gain real experience anyway), the person who works at a paid job outside the field has probably had more responsibility on the job, and that, combined with your transcripts, should count for more than a "not-really-relevant-experience" internship.

Employers know the whole unpaid internship thing is a scam. They take them because, what the hell, maybe they'll come across someone halfway-decent, and if they don't it hasn't cost them anything and they have someone to order around doing menial jobs for free. After all, even if it were allowed, just how much responsibility would you hand over to an unpaid intern? They have far less skin in the game compared to someone working for $$$. You don't give them a good recommendation, there's always someone else looking for free labour.