Recently, I got to know of an incident, which might not be new to my audience. A woman around us has started a youtube channel in the niche of beauty and fashion. I tracked that profile in its entirety. That woman had a properly hosted wordpress website. She also regularly invested in a lot of marketing tactics. But wait, I’m not telling you a story to inspire, but to alert you. That woman has hired almost half of our classmates as interns to drive more likes and subscribers, in lieu of just a certificate.
That channel was just started in June 2020 and has received 50k subscribers in such a short time period.
Now, let’s analyse, what’s wrong with such type of an internship.
No Stipend, Just Certificate
That woman is not giving her interns any stipend for driving the leads to her platform. She has just tempted them in lieu of a certificate. Certificate is not that important. Exposure and experience are important but not more than remuneration.
Students are spending their time and energy just for a certificate.
Anyone can design a certificate and distribute it. It doesn’t even count any expense for the distributor. Even if the recruiter is distributing it after getting it printed, it would be more than five rupees.
This shows that the woman has taken the interns for granted.
What is the Solution?
To find a solution for this problem is extremely important. Many recruiters don’t mention it clearly whether any particular vacancy is a full-fledged job or an internship. In some cases, they’re so tricky that they don’t reveal about the remuneration up to the last moment. Some of the following solutions can be worked out.
1. Develop some ethical standards for stipend
Some ethical standards should be developed against the unpaid internships. This would lead to the welfare of people who’re constantly exploited.
2. Don’t work without stipend
Interns deserve to have some remuneration for the time and energy they spend on the work. Thus, they themselves have to stand up for themselves boldly that they do not work without stipend.
3. Where stipend wouldn’t work
However, there’re numerous opportunities where stipend wouldn’t be possible; there too an intern can protect himself from exploitation. There’re various startups where the proprietors are not in a position to pay. There a bounty program can be brought to use where you’re paid a commission for every lead you bring.
There are various academic internships. Some of them are unpaid, while in some you’re supposed to pay for your training. That’s not bad either. That would lead to your practical experience. Getting a hands-on is way more important than the theory.
4. Get everything in writing
Read all the documents at the portal where the query is posted. Also, run a deep enquiry at your own level. It’s your own responsibility, not to let anyone fool you. After your internship is finalised, most of the recruiters offer a letter regarding that. If not, ask for it.
How was this article? Do you’ve any other ways which would work out? Do let me know in the comments below.
