The successful acquisition of an internship is among one of the most commonly shared goals among college students – even if that internship is unpaid. The experience of taking the train to Grand Central, exposure to a workplace environment and three credits are enough incentive to strive for one of these coveted positions.
At this point in my college career, I certainly find it more prudent to spend 12 hours a week preparing for life in the real world than by reading about the real world. But if these sentiments are shared by a number of my peers, why has the plight of the “unpaid intern” become the latest quandary to make headlines?
Consider that this is not the same intern that you and I encounter every day on our own campus. It is not the privileged college student who arguably receives a form of payment – through course credits and much needed experience – and who can therefore ignore the fact that he or she is unpaid.
Instead, these interns are into their 20’s and well aware of the injustices that they are experiencing. They have graduated from college or graduate school and are ready to move on to the next stage of their life yet they are stuck.
A recent New York Times article entitled “For Interns, All Work and No Payoff” examines the problem of the unpaid intern. The article argues that perhaps it is the fact that our generation “crave[s] meaningful and fulfilling careers, maybe even a chance to change the world” that is the real problem. So suddenly the desire for self-fulfillment through work is problematic.
Looks like the alienating capitalism that Karl Marx so abhorred is truly beginning to take hold. I mean, am I really expected to give up my pursuit of happiness and personal success – success that is not monetary – and take a job that I abhor to avoid having to take unpaid internship after unpaid internship?
According to the aforementioned article, “The jobless rate for college graduates age 20 to 24 stood at 8 percent in 2013,” presenting us with an economy where making money has become a privilege, not a right – an economy primed for unpaid interns who will do anything to build their resume and get on their way to obtaining a paying job.
But there comes a point where 20-somethings must realize that a fourth unpaid internship at age 29 is proof that a paying job in their desired field might never materialize.
And then what? Apparently, I am supposed to abandon my dream and get into a field that I have no interest in simply so I can make money.
I loathe any practice that forces me to comply with the ennui-inducing capitalist system; to submit to an economic order where the work you do is just a means to an end and as unfulfilling as watching day-time television.
Every procurement of an unpaid internship (at least in post-grad life) gives false hope that maybe, just maybe if I work hard enough this time I will be on my way to a life of contentment.
The reality? Unpaid internships are just a means of keeping dedicated, dream filled, hopeful college grads around to do the dirty work. We remain disillusioned long enough to provide companies with free labor before finally realizing that money is a necessary evil.
We apply and get a job in another field. We work there. We make money. But at the end of the day, we were probably happier suffering the plight of the unpaid intern than the misfortune of the discontented victim of the capitalist system.
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