A while back, AnnMaria opened up the discussion for unpaid interns. On the other hand, Maria is set on interns being paid because she feels that having unpaid interns is taking advantage of young people who are desperate for work experience. But AnnMaria is open to the idea of unpaid interns because it gives her a chance to consider less-qualified people so they can gain experience, too.
Me getting paid to take pictures with Eddie.
During my time at UCLA, I’ve have had 5 internships and only 2 of them have been paid. (Paid internships are a rare gem.) Working as an unpaid intern, I never really felt taken advantage of because I got great letters of recommendations, experience, and school credit for some of them. However, since those internships weren’t paid, I always had a job as well, which felt like a lot while balancing my college classes. Ultimately, if I had to pick one side of the intern debate, I would definitely be on the paid interns’ side. Here’s why!
1. You value your work more when you are paid
An allowance may have changed your childhood perspective on taking the garbage out as part of your daily and weekly chores. Netting a paid internship adds value to your work.
2. Interns are more likely to stick around if you pay them
My dad owns his own company, and like Maria, he feels that interns should be paid. However, his reasoning for paying interns is that they are more likely to stick around and want to grow into more important roles. My dad says it takes time to train people to learn how to do what he does, and unpaid interns usually only stay for a bit, which means you have to constantly train new people. After all, time is money.
3. Higher quality interns are more likely to apply
While AnnMaria thinks that unpaid interns would mean that she could give people with less experience the chance to work for her, the argument works both ways. When you pay interns, interns with more experience are more likely to apply, which means you are likely to get your money’s worth.
Interested in interning for 7 Generation Games? Email AnnMaria at AnnMaria@7generationgames.com.
If you are interested in working for us, you should try playing our games!
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