During my first internship at a newspaper, an editor asked me, "Would you walk into a butcher shop and ask the butcher for free meat?"
"No, I don't think so," I replied, confused by his question.
"So who in their right mind would think it's okay to ask a writer for free words?"
Although the paper had a small budget, he gave me a modest stipend for each article. It wasn't about the money; it was about what the money represented: respect for a person's time and energy.
I took his career advice to heart and never worked for a company that didn't value its employees enough to pay them.
Comments
During my first internship at a newspaper, an editor asked me, "Would you walk into a butcher shop and ask the butcher for free meat?"
"No, I don't think so," I replied, confused by his question.
"So who in their right mind would think it's okay to ask a writer for free words?"
Although the paper had a small budget, he gave me a modest stipend for each article. It wasn't about the money; it was about what the money represented: respect for a person's time and energy.
I took his career advice to heart and never worked for a company that didn't value its employees enough to pay them.
Interns aren't employees.
If an intern does _any_ usable work, they are, by federal law, required to be paid.
True unpaid interns aren't employees, as they should be purely learning. hawkharris said he was writing articles; that's not just learning.
Speaking from a lot of experience, they're often treated as such.
Employees are not the only people that companies write checks to.
If they get a W-2 they are employees; maybe not full-time.