As college students we need to take all of the opportunities that we can get. The job market isn’t getting any easier so we need anything that will help us stand out among the crowd. We have been told time and time again by our teachers and advisors that internships are essential for cultivating the ever dwindling future employment. For some, that means working at the family business over the summer; but for most of us, that means we will be slaving away at an unpaid internship.

In movies these internships are glorified and used as an easy way to climb up the economic ladder. However, in real life, they might give you some experience and exposure to the work force, but in the end it is just glorified abuse. Student interns are expected to do the equivalent of what would be paid labor, for free. Students work the worst hours just for some experience.

On the other hand, they are getting experience. According to The Mass Media the rate of students taking any sort of internship at all went from 9% to 80% between 1992 and 2008. Students are seeing the advantage of getting these internships and what they will do for their future careers. Since internships have become more in demand companies have had to compensate and make internships that do not have set wages. Taking more interns will help a company’s image as a caring one which is basically a free advertisement tool.

However, there is also a down side, as is with so many internships these days. According to The Mass Media, students who have unpaid internships are more likely to get a job. However, those with a paid internship make an average salary of $51,930 while those who have an unpaid internship make only $35,712 a year. While it is still good that internships will help students get jobs after college, it is nice to make a good amount of money.

In the end, any internship is better than no internship. In the work force experience is still experience no matter if it was paid for or not.