Internships Can Be Valuable for Both Students and the Companies that Employ Them

Offering high school and college students internships can benefit both the students, who gain valuable work experience, and the companies or non-profits who employ them. Students get to learn what it’s like to plug into a work environment, showing up to work on time, dealing with the company’s structure and hierarchy, and often learning practical skills that they can later apply to a permanent paid position; the companies benefit by getting workers, often for free, to assist their permanent employees and to help with special projects. Occasionally an internship can be a resounding success for both the intern and the employer, resulting in a permanent paid position for the intern.

Of course, internships are supposed to be educational experiences, and while interns can certainly be asked to do some fairly menial tasks, if there isn’t some definite training and valuable work experience available, the intern can legitimately complain about being exploited. "Unpaid" interns are supposed to be paid in experience; particularly with college students or high school students who are trying to plug into a specific industry in which they have training, not being allowed to utilize their education and further their knowledge of the chosen field is not acceptable. Interns aren’t supposed to be free labor; they’re in the workforce to learn. A carefully designed internship, on the other hand, can be a springboard to a lifetime of success for the intern and a consistent source of inexpensive or even free labor for the company.