@Tioluwa, You are right , It may not be bad if interns can be paid in a company where they are really contributing meaningful effort and learning along side.
To some interns, the pay can go a long way in asisting them in their studies while some will abuse the opportunity.
I did a 6months internship as a student and learnt a whole not, got paid nothing, and was treated like trash.
But the knowledge i gathered, and the exposure i got proved very indispensable to me in my career. that to me was more important than any pay i could have been given then.
Working now, I have also had to accept interns due to university programs which has lead to some great students as well as some very strong liabilities.
I think any serious company should have a solid program for their interns.
Create as structure where they can learn on the job, monitor them for a while, and send them home if they are not catching up after a stipulated time. Interns can rapidly grow to be valuable staffs, but some can also grow to be terrible burdens, causing distractions at work.
I agree with you Elctrnx_lyf on getting internship regulated by government. Since the experience gained by some of the interns will reflect in their resumes. I believe getting them paid can make employers assign challenge tasks to them.
Working in many high tech environments most interns offer little to the company but the posts do offer invaluable experience for the intern and in the long run become useful to the company. I do however believe interns should be paid subsistence or more if they are actually capable in some way.
Carla you are talking about a situation that is extremely opposite to what I have seen. I have seen companies so fed up of entertaining interns that they pay them a decent amount and want them to sit at home. They are under arrangements with universities that the company will hire their student as an intern and that is what makes them liable to entertain interns against company's will. Even if interns are not directed to sit at home, they are given such nonsense tasks that an undergrad or post grad student will never have to do in his professional life again. So thats a total waste for company and student both.
You are talking about another extreme and I am sure its true as well. Its important to improve the situation and I think regulators need to step in to protect permanent employees and interns both while also keeping corporations' interests in mind.
It is left to individuals to decide whether they want to be unpaid/paid labour. Generaly government have to put some regulations in place and should make sure that companies are following these guidelines properly.
You are right - productive internships take effort from both parties. Some programs are very formal and established - Avnet for example does a fantastic job with their program. Others take on the form of a one on one mentorship. Both can be equally beneficial.
I agree with the author, Nevertheless, "employers" need to be committed to giving the intern productive assignments and not "grunt work" and should supervise and mentor the interns so that the learning experience is beneficial to both parties.
In my opinion , the internships should be UNPAID only. Internship is not a labor , it is actually a free learning experience where the intern gets something invaluable, not found in the books and not taught in the classrooms. The companies employing the interns also are not expecting the work of interns to add direct value to their business. Many times the assignments given to the interns are of exploratory nature, proof of concept studies or similar things.
For companies interns are their future source of manpower whereas for Interns it is an opportunity to get to know the naunces of a employee-employer relationship.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
To save this item to your list of favorite EBN content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
