Internships: are interns taken advantage of?
Yes. In many public relations agencies, interns do work above their educational level with little guidance. They are often given the grunt work that other people feel is under them. The long hours expected often interfere with school and social experiences. Should there even be internships then, if interns are treated poorly?
I think so. An internship gives experience and an understanding of the industry. Interning is competitive and therefore illustrating that you do the busy work, the grunt work, without complaining, professionally and exceptionally well, interns have the chance to demonstrate their basic skills. Once the basic skills are established, there is the possibility they will be provided projects requiring more skills and given the chance to learn more. This leads to a plethora of experience and potential for more job opportunities.
Interning is so important in the public relations industry. This industry is time consuming and will probably take over your life for the first couple of years while you are proving yourself. But, if you can handle those couple years from hell, demonstrate your worth and talents you learned from your internship, then it will be worth it for your professional career.
The Public Relations Society of America recently posted a blog about intern ethics.
“PRSA believes it to be ethically wrong to employ anyone who adds real value to an agency or employer without compensating them for their work — whether that compensation is monetary or in the form of educational credits. If billable work is being performed by an intern, he or she deserves some form of legal compensation.”
Of course, all students and graduates agree with PRSA’s stance on internships. Unfortunately, unpaid internships are more prevalent than paid ones. Usually, unpaid and paid do the same amount of work – or from what I can tell based on my friends’ experiences. I have a paid internship with The Richards Group – and I do lots of work for them that isn’t quite with the unpaid interns do, but similar.
Do interns feel taken advantage of if they aren’t paid? Most just appreciate the experience and know that without experience, getting a job is next to impossible.
I love my internship and I love knowing that I am creating a fantastic network of people in the public relations industry who provide experience and connections throughout the metroplex. Do I feel taken advantage of? At times. But I know that all the work I do is what any entry-level employee would do. I try not to think of myself above my actual level. I do my work and I do it to the best of my ability.
I have no doubt that my internship will help me find a job after college. As long as I utilize my role as an intern to the fullest extent, I know that all my long hours and hard work is worth it. Sure, I will feel overwhelmed and used and taken advantaged of. But that’s what an internship is about – proving yourself. Proving you deserve to be there.
A marketing strategy is never give anything away for free. Being paid makes me feel like I am less taken advantaged of than being unpaid. But overall, just having the experience of an internship, paid or unpaid, appreciated or not, is definitely worth it.
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