Working for FREE (UPDATE)
Now, I first posted this back in Jan. I was in touch with the former student just the other day to find out she is working pretty much day's, nights, weekends, etc for "FREE" only to get that great work in her book. Now, you tell me who is being ripped off here..
So today I had a conversation with a friend of mine who is about to move further South to take an internship at___________ . When I asked about a little more detail, I was told they were going to be working for free. After an hour of thinking the idea really started to bother me.... Working for free. Then, I started to think even more about lot’s of other people who have been through the same thing.
When I was in college (2002) I did have an internship at a very good shop in town. I too worked for free. Why did I do it? So I could have the name on my resume and the work in my book. Would I do it now if I were in the same boat? I honestly don’t know. And this is why:
Working over the last few years, I have learned there are places out there EVERYONE wants to work; And what’s sad is I believe the Agency’s know that. Does that give them the right to abuse people, burn them out and replace them after 3-6 months with the next eager intern? Do these CD’s sit in a room and think “We don’t have to pay people because we are one of the best. People will work for free”. I simply don’t think it’s fair at all. Students should at least be paid a decent wage for their efforts.
There is something to be said about someone that has a lot of natural talent. Hands down, Art school can only teach you so much. I have seen over the last few year’s some really great students of mine end up getting offers to work internships for FREE. What really gets me is, I have seen students great idea’s get sold to clients. And, what did they give back to the person? That piece in their book? Not always because some end up signing lot’s of NDA’s, etc; so they can’t even showcase the work. I feel they are simply raped of their idea’s and effort.
How do you feel?
So today I had a conversation with a friend of mine who is about to move further South to take an internship at
When I was in college (2002) I did have an internship at a very good shop in town. I too worked for free. Why did I do it? So I could have the name on my resume and the work in my book. Would I do it now if I were in the same boat? I honestly don’t know. And this is why:
Working over the last few years, I have learned there are places out there EVERYONE wants to work; And what’s sad is I believe the Agency’s know that. Does that give them the right to abuse people, burn them out and replace them after 3-6 months with the next eager intern? Do these CD’s sit in a room and think “We don’t have to pay people because we are one of the best. People will work for free”. I simply don’t think it’s fair at all. Students should at least be paid a decent wage for their efforts.
There is something to be said about someone that has a lot of natural talent. Hands down, Art school can only teach you so much. I have seen over the last few year’s some really great students of mine end up getting offers to work internships for FREE. What really gets me is, I have seen students great idea’s get sold to clients. And, what did they give back to the person? That piece in their book? Not always because some end up signing lot’s of NDA’s, etc; so they can’t even showcase the work. I feel they are simply raped of their idea’s and effort.
How do you feel?
posted by eric shoemaker at
8:08 PM
1 Comments:
yeah you know thats interesting to think about. I can see if someone works for free at a firm really goes the extra mile to make some contacts it could be a great opportunity. Plus the work experience is valuable.
But all in all it does seem like an abusive situation. Especially if the intern creates usable work and isn't reimbursed for their time, work, and most importantly their ideas.
I did a free internship once and it taught me some good things and I got some good contacts out of it, but it is hard cause I worked on some fortune 500 projects that I can't really show for NDA reasons. I mostly took / asked for the internship cause I had never before that had any graphic arts training aside from an intro class in college and a commercial arts class in High School. Basically I feel like I had no experience and wanted to learn what the industry was like. So for my position I knew I was taking a hit financially but I was also getting a little bit of an education which led me here to Portfolio Center. i was also assisting one of the principles so I wasn't just running around as a nameless face. I'm confident that as time goes on and I graduate and get myself out there I can call on them for job leads, reviews, recommendations and the like.
Had it been the case that I had more experience and was better trained then I think I would've been pursuing a position where I'd be paid.
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