The Internship Scam

The word "internship" is popping up in my circle more and more frequently as of late. Usually as in "My kid's looking for an internship for the summer...do you know anyone?" What is all this talk about internships?

To me, it seems like a giant scam being perpetrated by corporate America against our children. I see it as a way for these big companies to avoid paying our kids for their time and labor. Why pay a salary when you can simply change the name of the endeavor from a "job" to an "internship" and thus avoid compensating the individual?

Where are the child labor laws? Why isn't the minimum wage law kicking in? How can you require a high school senior or college kid home for the summer to work 40 hour weeks without paying them a dime? Not a dime, not even reimbursement for commuting expenses. Outrageous!!

It seems to me that by calling such work an "internship," the employer is able to get around every law that would otherwise safeguard American employees from being taken advantage of by their employers. No pay minimum, no restrictions on hours, not even a meaningful job description -- an intern can find him/herself picking up their employer's dry cleaning. Is this why we send them to school? Is this the goal of an expensive higher education?

And these so-called "internships" aren't just for the summer. Often, they turn into permanent positions that carry into the year and beyond graduation. The road to financial independence for our kids is NOT paved with internships.