Unpaid internship grows

[alain]

Andy, I was offered an (unpaid) internship at ML about two years ago. The hiring manager told me that it is ML policy not to pay interns. And my buddy who did a UBS internship said the same thing.

This is not true. I used to work at ML 2 years ago. We had different interns for 2 years and they were both paid. I also had a student of mine working as an intern for one summer at ML and he was paid as well.

 

[Anthony DeAngelis]

I would pay to have a quality internship. If someone cannot afford the cost of living tough luck. Life is not fair and working in finance is not a basic human right. Trying to make things "fair" will only end up screwing other people. Plenty of firms in smaller cities with a lower cost of living.

Unpaid internships helped me. They helped my friend and they help countless students I know and speak with. Anything that eliminates them hurts students and makes getting a job even harder.


Do not tell me how much I can work for. If I want to do so for free it is no ones business.

 

[IlyaKEightSix]

Andy, I was offered an (unpaid) internship at ML about two years ago. The hiring manager told me that it is ML policy not to pay interns. And my buddy who did a UBS internship said the same thing.

As far as unpaid internships go, they're a great way to build your resume. I had two unpaid internships during undergrad, and two paid during grad. The thing is, MOST internships are unpaid - the people who land the paid ones have better resumes/more talent. Meaning, the paid internships generally go to people who have already gained some work exp.

One thing to consider in the workforce is that most recent grads who land a job think, "Omg, they're paying me $60k because I'm worth it! Blah, blah blah. I'll get a raise and promotion in no time!" When, in reality, you won't be worth the $60k for quite some time. You need to learn their business, best practices, etc. This isn't true for people transitioning with a relevant skill set. But, for recent grads, it's pretty true.

Ever thought why that's the policy? It's so that the only people that intern are the ones who can afford to rent a place in NYC for 3 months out of pocket. AKA those already privileged. I don't care if an internship paid only for food and rent, but at least it should not leave the interns in the red.

 

[IlyaKEightSix]

I would pay to have a quality internship. If someone cannot afford the cost of living tough luck. Life is not fair and working in finance is not a basic human right. Trying to make things "fair" will only end up screwing other people. Plenty of firms in smaller cities with a lower cost of living.

Unpaid internships helped me. They helped my friend and they help countless students I know and speak with. Anything that eliminates them hurts students and makes getting a job even harder.


Do not tell me how much I can work for. If I want to do so for free it is no ones business.

Unpaid work also helped me, but once again, there's a difference between a small startup literally not having the capital to hire somebody and literally cannot offer a paid position, or one throwing off plenty of cash that's just cheap.