image generated using Gemini AI
We have seen a lot of organisations where they pay you for teaching you valuable skills, and we have also seen organisations and firms where you learn on the job, and you are paid your full salary. Being an intern doesn't have to be different since an intern is a qualified individual in that specific field; the only difference is that the intern has no practical world experience of the job, or has not had in real life the opportunity to put into practice what they may know or do not know.
An intern is usually a student or a recent graduate seeking to bridge their academic knowledge in a professional environment, which is usually done within a working environment. An internship is a period of practical training where the student or recent graduate converts their academic knowledge into a practical one. This is usually undertaken in order to gain hands-on experience and special skills related to the individuals choose career path that he might find useful during the course of his continuous practice. This is usually for a short period of time, usually a few weeks or months.
Should an intern be paid for the value of the time they put in? Yes, an intern should be paid for the time they put in during their internship period. The payment usually could serve as a motivation to the intern since the intern has needs he ought to attend to; not being able to find these needs will only cause a serious distraction to the intern, which will affect the intern's concentration on the programme, forfeiting the aim of the internship in the first place. Payment to an intern should be seen as an investment in the intern's ability to learn and perform.
Another reason why an intern should be paid is for the fact that interns add value to the organisation even during their learning stage. Interns are usually given work-related tasks that the company will normally pay someone to do on a very good day. Delegating these tasks to an intern requires that the intern be paid at the end of the day for the input the intern has towards the running of the company's projects.
As I have mentioned earlier in my definition of an intern and internship programme, an intern is a qualified individual and usually companies that see prospects and have the desire for long-term and consistent growth will usually go for graduates like that, give them a permanent position, train them, and will even promise them growth and good welfare to see that they become committed to them.
A company that refuses to pay its intern is usually using the interns; an internship should be cheap and not free. A free internship equals exploitation of the labourer. Since an Engineering company will not normally pick an economist, for instance, to intern as an Engineer in the firm, this is to say that there is a value to the knowledge that the intern came with, and it should be considered as billable. Unpaid internships only create a wealth gap, making individuals with promise who cannot afford to work for free miss out on gaining the experience needed.
Thank you for reading. My name is 