The Importance And Controversy Surrounding Internship And Apprenticeship Programs

The Role of Interns in the Service Sector

Discuss About The Global Sustainable Information A Society.

This essay discusses the importance of internship in the current business economy and society. Interns are one of the most important people in the service sector. These people provide with valuable services (Shade and Jacobson 2015). They are the source of fresh ideas and smart works hence mentoring opportunities for the staff. The economics of the unpaid internship are understandable. The employers are desperate for cheap workers and these interns are the chief sullies of free workers. These students or recent graduates have become willing to negotiate their wages initially because this free service is the key strategy to get better jobs with bigger salaries but for the employers it is completely unethical to hire a worker and exploit them with zero wages.

There are a lot of differences between the internship and apprenticeship therefore, the issues of opposing free internship or replacing it with apprenticeship must be discussed. Firstly, internship is a commitment that the students do it for a semester then move on to the better one in order to get a desired job or get hired for full-time. For apprenticeship it takes years as well as need full time commitment. Internship is much shorter and do not need any classroom instructions linked with it but whereas the interns come just to get a work experience, the apprentices get much more than just a n experiences (Wilson and Pender 2017). Secondly, the method of internship has a vast area through which the students of various subject background can get work experience, create a huge knowledge pool and showcase their merits to get change to get hired. One the contrary, the method of apprenticeship has more technical or specific requirements. Thirdly, apprenticeship is highly competitive. This is because the apprentices get paid when they learn which does not happen with interns. However, internships give college credits or work experience which the students can attach in their resume and a small amount of stipend.

Apprenticeship is therefore, characterized directly with paid employment. Fourthly, the apprenticeship method provides a hand on or practical experience which gives a real on the job training in the fields the students will be working later but for internship the students only have the theoretical or eventual experience and do not get practical experiences that the apprenticeship provides (Tewksbury 2015). Finally, it can be said that apprenticeship ensure that the students will get hired in a full time job when they complete their apprenticeship by the employers they have been working for a year or more, but internship does not guarantee that the employer will offer job after completing the session. This is because in apprenticeship, the employers sponsor the students, spend time to teach and train them which gives assurance that the students are fully proficient with their work and thus get a good paying job after completing the program. Therefore, it can be said that apprenticeship is the combination of classroom and on the job training when the students get paid also (Webb 2015). On the contrary the internship helps the students to get an exposure to the corporate communication world and advantage in the resume with no payment.

Differences Between Internship and Apprenticeship Programs

In spite of the fact that the apprenticeship is more valuable in terms of payments as well as career security, for some the students, internship is much more fruitful than apprenticeship. This is because internship helps to get an immediate job (Wilson and Pender 2017). These students may use internship to assess possible careers as this helps these students to find more jobs in the communication or public relations industry. This provides the students opportunity to build networks of contacts which they can use in the future. On the contrary the apprenticeship provides a job until the completion of the program and the certificate provided, improve the job prospects.

Now as the statement argues that the unpaid internships should be replaced by apprenticeships, has various levels. First of all, in the internship is a program which can only be applied by the students from the famishes with high income (Burke and Carton 2013). This is due to the fact that in internship, the students do not gat wages for the service they provide for the employers. Hence for the students of low income group cannot enter such programs that provide no guarantee for job. The communication industries for internship are very much expensive and they are concentrated in the business center of the contraries. Therefore, it becomes impossible for the students to move there and work for no money (Willer 2015). This idea eliminates thousands of meritorious students who belong to a low income group who essentially require future employment after completing their graduation. Secondly, the talents and skills which these students are applying in their internship programs, are fully utilized by the employers. This is because they are gaining profits by utilizing these skills and ideas in their organizations but not paying the interns anything.

Thirdly, in economics, people value or care what they pay for. The employers if pay for the interns, need to take care of their personal as well as professional developments. This however, become an extra headache for the employers hence they take no interest in the development of the interns (Curiale 2009). In this system, the interns must take all the risks but the employers do not take one. Fourthly, this practice of paying zero to the interns is immoral. This devaluate the actual work and lower the wages for everyone. The employers use the interns to be draftsman and eradicate legitimate career path. In the industries like health care the practice of free lobar in the name of internship is very high. In the nursing internship, the employers utilize of more precisely exploit the individual trainees. Here these interns work for 10 to 12 weeks unpaid then the employers will consider who will get the job.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Internship and Apprenticeship Programs

Fifthly, the system of unpaid internship works against the class mobility. The comparatively privileged students can afford to invest in the offer of unpaid internship, others when find it difficult to make ends meet, leave their internship (O’Connor and Bodicoat 2017). Sixthly, the terms of the internship are also not very clear. In some cases, the employers clearly state in the agreement that they do not derive any immediate advantage frim the students but it is not the real fact. The time and effort what the employers are spending to train the interns are fully exploited from them through the means of free labor.

Seventhly, the working conditions, limits of working hour and other safety measures are not the responsibilities of the employers when their employ interns but enjoy the hard works and brilliance of the interns (Schulte 2018). Eighthly, these internship programs may be a reason of increasing employment among the existing workers. The system of internship is profitable for the companies as they do not pay for the service that they receive from these interns. This however reduces recruitment number of the permanent employees in the public relations industries. Many of the companies are replacing the posts of the permanent employees in their firms with interns as this lower the cost of labor for them. Finally, in economics, the curve of supply and demand may shift to downwards due to increased supply of interns than demand. In case this happens for a long time, a situation will come when the interns will have to pay for working in the companies.

In this context, the utility of free service provided by the interns can be connected with the future of these interns (Shade and Jacobson 2015). They are often get manipulated by the idea that this service which they are giving for free to the employers are of great value to showcase in their resume but the employers would be foolish to pay the applicants whose skills they can utilize for free. It is true that the of employment has become so critical that the students who do not do an internship face more difficulty while trying for a job. Unpaid internship exploit the merits of the interns bit who cannot afford to take such unpaid internship face direct blow. In the fields of philanthropy or marketing these students need to compete with those who have already taken internship of few months or year thus making the condition more competitive (Capek, Klein and Gassman 2017). Moreover, in the fields of journalism as well as publishing, the students are not allowed to enter if they do not have any kind of experience. This mandates unpaid internship for all to get a job.

Arguments Against the Practice of Unpaid Internship

Unpaid internship is an immoral act by the employers as they take advantage of the situation or helplessness of the interns. It can be said that as the business organizations need to show and respect the human rights of their employees, they need to be concerned with the personal and professional development of their interns because, directly and indirectly they are contributing for the profits of the companies. As the companies do not ethically utilize the forced labors and bonded labor in their operation, they cannot exploit the skills of the interns also. Therefore, the labor organizations need to pressurize the government to end such practice just as it has been in the forced labor.

Unfortunately, the Labor Department has strict rules about the conditions under which internships at for-profit companies can go unpaid. The argument in support for this practice state that the experiences which these interns are earning, is much more than money. They get more competitive advantages than their peers who have never taken such internships (Tewksbury 2015). In addition to this, the students who work as interns get college credits therefore, they do not need to be paid by the employers also. Some of the colleges hence do not allow the companies to pay the interns. Moreover, big companies do not keep interns for menial works but they work with the regular staffs and work within limited hours with all the facilities that the regular staffs get till the end of their program. To these companies, the practice of apprenticeship does not create and effective and skilled worker base that the internship does.

As the inters get first real world experiences of what they may face in their careers, they take their jobs very seriously. On the country, the guarantee associated with apprenticeship convince the students to take their jobs taken for granted. Hence they do not take opportunities more seriously. This is a long term commitment to the industries where the students need to stay connected with the employees and do whatever they are asked to do. This is because the employers treat these apprentices as staffs and paid for them on the job training therefore, there are no scopes for these students to change their industries even of they cannot cope with the job. the college students can have an experience of job simultaneously they study (Tewksbury 2015). They change industries or subjects if they feel difficulties with such jobs but the lengthy process of apprenticeship closes all the door for the students and they need to start from scratch. Despite the fact that both apprenticeship and internship do not give security to the job but the interns feel more frustrated with their careers.

Therefore, it can be concluded that there are huge differences in the features between the internship and apprenticeship. In comparison to internship, apprenticeship is much more profitable for the students who want to get hired by the companies of their choice but internship is unpaid in most of the cases hence interest the employers. The basic difference that make internship more acceptable for the employers is the payment system. The employers get absolutely free service from the interns but utilize their ideas and skill to progress their business. The supply of interns in the economy has grown so fast that the value of these labors are decreasing and the employers haply utilize them by giving a certificate in return. This is the reason why the internship must be paid like apprenticeship.

References:

Burke, D.D. and Carton, R., 2013. The pedagogical, legal, and ethical implications of unpaid internships. Journal of Legal Studies Education, 30(1), pp.99-130.

Capek, M., Klein, J. and Gassman, J., 2017. Paid versus Unpaid Internships: Perspectives of Students and Nonprofit Directors. The International Undergraduate Journal For Service-Learning, Leadership, and Social Change, 7(1), pp.11-20.

Curiale, J.L., 2009. America's new glass ceiling: unpaid internships, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the urgent need for change. Hastings LJ, 61, p.1531.

O’Connor, H. and Bodicoat, M., 2017. Exploitation or opportunity? Student perceptions of internships in enhancing employability skills. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 38(4), pp.435-449.

Schulte, D., 2018. What You Should Know about Unpaid Internships in Your Office. - PubMed - NCBI. [online] Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27263139 [Accessed 29 Apr. 2018].

Shade, L.R. and Jacobson, J., 2015. Hungry for the job: Gender, unpaid internships, and the creative industries. The Sociological Review, 63(1_suppl), pp.188-205.

Tewksbury, D., 2015. Educating the precariat: Intern labour and a renewed approach to media literacy education. tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique. Open Access Journal for a Global Sustainable Information Society, 13(2), pp.526-532.

Webb, W., 2015. Ontario interns fight back: Modes of resistance against unpaid internships. tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique. Open Access Journal for a Global Sustainable Information Society, 13(2), pp.579-586.

Willer, R.P., 2015. Waging the War against Unpaid Labor: A Call to Revoke Fact Sheet# 71 in Light of Recent Unpaid Internship Litigation. U. Rich. L. Rev., 50, p.1361.

Wilson, J. and Pender, K., 2017. Employment law: Intern or employee?: A potentially expensive question. LSJ: Law Society of NSW Journal, (33), p.84.