Question About Unpaid Internships in the USA

L

Live a Dream

Guest
In my country for example it's forbidden for companies to offer *unpaid* internships that are longer than 1 month (or somewhere around that time frame), because they figured those companies would use the young students as cheap workers.

Now I hear people often talk about unpaid internships at record lables etc. and I was wondering for the longest from what money those young people in the USA live off when they do unpaid internships? Some people do internships for 6 month and sometimes even longer.

I assume you're working there 8 hours a day, so you'd not have any time to work by the side, so where does the money come from to pay the rent and food?

I asked a few americans who were interested in doing internships and even they couldn't answer me that question... wow lol.
 
Yeah, it can be tough to do an unpaid internship, but the thought is that it's a good way to get experience that will hopefully lead to a better-paying job down the line.

Not a problem if the intern is well-off, or has parents to pay for living expenses (or lives with his parents). Some live cheaply enough that they can have a part-time job in the evenings or on weekends (bartending and waitressing jobs are good for that) and last through the time of the internship.

Many internships are taken during college, and a lot of students have financial aid or scholarships that cover living expenses. In that case, it's the same as going to classes while not working.
 
Thanks for clearing this up, finally lol.

Yeah, I assumed some of them would still be living at their parents house, but wasn't really quite sure about that. I think the last paragraph which you wrote applies to most of them, since many record labels even require to be a college student, AFAIK it's easier for them to handle the business and all the papers that are involved.

It's weird but I get the feeling that a lot of times life nowadays requires that your momma and daddy pay for your living even when you're in your twenties, I kinda hate that, I don't wanna live off momma and daddy lol, I rather go get a job. Very weird system we're living in, "be a kid till your middle twenties". smh
 
galacticboy said:
Many internships are taken during college, and a lot of students have financial aid or scholarships that cover living expenses. In that case, it's the same as going to classes while not working.
Click to expand...

I was just about to say that... Everyone I know with unpaid internships are in school, so loans and all that pay for apartments, then they find whatever way they can to make more money.
 
Internships are typically held by college students (often college credit is given for internships, too)

and typically, interns only work for a few hours per day, a couple ofdays a week... It is not like a full time job...

...it us really part of the educational process.
 
About 95% plus of internships ARE paid. There are a VERY RARE number of companies that DON'T pay interns. very rare.

The catch to that is that companies are getting more in touch with universities to do those internships, so if you are not in school, your chances of finding one are at a lesser advantage than that of a student.

It's just like anything else, though if you just so happen to come across an unpaid internship: You have to work another job.

But like I said, there are very RARE occasions where you will have an internship and it's NON-PAYING.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top