Trend Alert: Negatively-Paid Internships

I find it ironic that I commanded a higher hourly wage before I graduated than I do now. But that's nothing compared to the time I met an unpaid intern with a master's degree.

A college education opens all kinds of doors
http://snarkwalk.blogspot.com/2010/06/college-education-opens-all-kinds-of.html#comments

I really like Chris's post; it sums up life after college nicely.


Right out of college, I was a negatively-paid intern. Yes, I was one of the few privileged interns nationwide who made even less than unpaid interns. I had to pay $1500 to an internship "agency". In return, they would allow me to work at my "dream" internship. $300 out of that $1500 total went to a small, unknown diploma mill college to pay for one course credit. Apparently, it's illegal to hire unpaid interns unless they are earning college credit for the experience. And thus, us "unpaid" interns had to pay to work. In addition to the $1500, I had to cover my own rent, food, and travel expenses. To pay for all of this, I had to beg for another loan from the Bank of Mom&Dad

Now you're probably wondering why anyone in their right mind would pay to work. When I signed up for the internship program, my plan was to move to the city and continue to job-hunt. I was really confident that I would be able to land a full-time job within weeks. My college had many contacts and alumni in the area, and I had able to get the occasional interview without too much trouble. Obviously, things did not work out as I had planned.

What surprised me the most during my internship experience was talking to one of my fellow negatively-paid coworkers. Two of the interns at our office were legitimately unpaid interns  both were still enrolled in school and didn't have to pay a cent before being hired. The only other intern had fallen for the same scam me; we had both paid the same "agency" to work, and then forked over more of our nonexistent income/savings to cover the sky-high living expenses. However, my fellow negatively-paid coworker had recently earned a master's degree in finance in the United Kingdom. She was the most educated of anyone in the entire office, yet had to spend thousands of dollars to work for free. Not only that, but she actually had experience working at a bank after completing her undergraduate degree in finance.

Our managers enjoyed a major power trip ordering us around for the next several months. (Both were less educated than the master's-degree intern, and one was actually a year younger than her.) Some of the wonderfully educational tasks/responsibilities us interns were assigned included: delivering roses to a random girl my manager wanted to impress (45-minute one-way trip), delivering mail by foot, buying and delivering one of the managers groceries (the intern was subsequently yelled at for getting the wrong type of jam). Despite everything, the internship program was still worth the cost to me, but only because it opened the door to a priceless temporary position at another firm. (In other words, I was able to earn my $1500 back.)


But I still don't understand how a smart, hard-working, and polished individual with a master's degree in finance, plus international work experience, can end up employed. Is there any hope for the rest of us recent grads without any work experience and graduate degrees??