

Internships Abroad: Unpaid, with a $10,000 Price Tag - iwh
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/08/education/edlife/the-10000-unpaid-global-internship.html

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akrolsmir
A bit of a different perspective: as a CS undergrad in Silicon Valley,
internships routinely pay upwards of $20k for a summer, complete with
relocation -- simultaneously defraying costs of tuition and providing real
work experience.

Far from being a mechanism to filter for the upper class, the interns I've
worked with came from a diverse range of backgrounds, local, foreign, and all
across the States. The tech industry might like to overstate the amount of
meritocracy in its system, but at least in this regard internships seem to do
well at providing more equal opportunities.

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dperny
Yeah, but you have to be very, very good to get one of those internships. I'm
a mid-top tier programmer (better than most of my cohort) from a modest state
university. I've been applying everywhere, and there's no way in hell I'll
make close to $20k. I'm pretty good at what I do, but there's a gulf between
what you get if you're good and what you get if you really good.

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poikniok
Don't sell yourself short. I am a fairly average programmer coming from a
state school, and I made 1800 a week plus housing last summer, and am going to
be making 2000 a week plus housing this coming summer. If you are really a
mid-top tier programmer opportunities like this and better will be available
to you.

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dperny
Where do you find these places? I've been blasting job apps since November. I
think I've applied at like 15 places. No bites so far.

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courtneypowell
Check out realhq.com. If you are interested email Courtney@realhq.com.

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rdtsc
Like article says, unpaid internships, especially in expensive cities, is also
a reliable way to select people from upper crust i.e. parents can bankroll
their stay in high priced neighborhoods. Sometimes I wonder if that is what
some firms and banks are doing.

In this case some are using student loans for it. Which is an interesting
twist on things.

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MathsOX
If you're referring to investment banks, they pay roughly around what the
upper ends of SV pays. I just signed a summer analyst internship that's
prorated at 90k. I didn't hear of any firms that have structured summer
analyst programs, with active campus recruitment, paying any less than 70k
prorated to the term of the internship.

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arthurcolle
Congratulations! I signed with an investment bank as well, you working in
Manhattan?

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MathsOX
Thanks very much! Yes, I'm at one of the bulge brackets. I'm a pure maths
student, not CS or finance, so the whole interview process has been really
interesting.

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screwedup
>...a junior majoring in history and French at the University of Michigan, had
an eight-week internship at a bridal boutique in Paris arranged by Global
Experiences. Ms. Friedberg said that the internship, which cost $10,000, was a
great learning experience but the grunt work, like serving tea and coffee to
customers, got repetitive, convincing her she did not want to work retail.

Do French majors really think their best post-grad option is to be a store
clerk in a France?

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steve-howard
It sounds like these students are getting degree credit for the work. My
school had a strict policy against that sort of thing, but you doubtless get
much better at French when you spend a lot of structured time in France.

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screwedup
I guess that's legit if the purpose is language immersion. The article made it
sound like she was paying to find out how much she'd enjoy selling clothes.

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tuna-piano
Just a personal experience with an internship abroad.

I spent a semester on a combined internship / study abroad program in London
(work 2 days, class 2 days). The cost of the program was about ~$15k including
living space. While that may sound expensive, I was already paying ~$15k in
tuition a semester as an out of state student at a state school. So studying
abroad actually ended up being cheaper (with the included living space) than
staying at my normal university. There were also several scholarships
available to study abroad students to further reduce the cost.

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ilamont
Did something similar when I was an undergrad. It was arranged through my
school. Worked out to be cheaper, and was a great experience -- probably the
best of my undergrad years. Led to other opportunities that I never would have
had, had I stayed in the U.S. that semester.

EDIT: Just looked at the cost for the current semester - it's about 30% less
than regular tuition + room & board, although the semester abroad is 3 weeks
shorter. Airfare is not factored in.

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jackmaney
This should be criminal. Internships need to be paid positions. Period.
Anything else is exploitation.

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kszx
You are free to reject unpaid internships. You are also free to accept it.
\--> No coercion. --> No exploitation.

In contrast, a law against unpaid internships restricts free choice.

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jackmaney
I'll tell you what: assuming you're employed, why not just give up your salary
and work for nothing? That's free choice, after all, right?

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kszx
Correct.

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jackmaney
Excellent. So, please start working for nothing.

