re: #320 HappyWarrior

What I would love to see candidates talk about though is underemployment. I think the unpaid internship is one of the biggest scams out there. You work full time, you commute like everyone else, etc. I get that you don’t last long on the company payroll but yes absolutely interns should get a wage.

In theory the unpaid internship can be valid in some circumstances, if you’re not actually doing productive work but instead are learning about a certain industry or function. To me that’s the dividing line between internship and employment.

But you’re right that in practice it just opens up a huge loophole for unscrupulous actors to exploit, because the line is so blurred. It also places low-income people at a significant disadvantage because they can’t afford to take the more competitive/interesting internships.