Tuesday, December 28, 2004

How can a pub need interns?

This may be a sign that the internship craze has gone too far. How exactly can a pub need interns? I've also heard of people being interns in clothing stores, not in fashion design but in, well, selling clothing. While some if not most internships out there offer valuable experience, and not all are the result of formal internship programs, it seems that, once businesses realize that college students nationwide believe the secret to success lies in accepting unpaid positions so long as these positions are called "internships," businesses that would previously hire entry-level workers straight out of high school can now tap into the new free-labor source. But the real concern is, now that even pubs have internships, are internships required of those who wish to find paid, full-time employment of any kind? Have we gotten to the point as a society where no job whatsoever can be attained without prior internship experience? Once the Reg starts requiring past shelving internship experience for the position of Stacks Assistant, then we'll know for sure that some reforms are in order.

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