Positions are unpaid in order to ensure we have the chance to place you in the best possible position.

Whether or not you are paid plays a big role in the quality of placement. Some candidates may think the content of placement stay the same whether paid or unpaid, but the fact is that there is a big difference how your internship will be if you are paid or not. When a host organization pays an intern, they can control the placement and the internship will become a job. You will do what the employer needs you to do in the best interest of the company.

When we contact organizations for a placement of unpaid internship, they ask me “what do I have to do?” This shows that their mind-set changes and they look at the placement from the perspective of an unpaid intern. They understand that the experience has to be valuable for the intern. Host organizations integrate their interns to the team and daily operations, interns have a chance to learn about things they would not have the chance to if the placement was paid.  As soon as a company pays an intern, even a minimal amount, this means we lose control over the content of the placement which limits your learning potential and breadth and depth of the experience. For an unpaid internship, we have control over the placement, so we can focus on participants’ objectives and interests. This is how we tailor-build each placement for each individual.

Some interns may think organizations have nothing to lose by having an unpaid intern and that they will be mistreated. However, this is not the case. To have an intern, organizations think of many factors: Do we have a person who can supervise an intern? Can we give a sufficient amount of support? Do we have enough work for an intern? Do we have a proper work station for an intern?  This kind of reaction tells us that host organizations are not just looking for free labor, but they take the internship opportunity into serious consideration so that they are well prepared and committed to offering a good placement experience for an intern. At the same time, host organizations cannot afford to lose time and energy on interns (even unpaid) if they are not right for the position. This is the reason why they will carefully review the qualifications of an intern and they have to make sure that an internship is a win-win situation for both parties. Some host organizations spend double the amount of time to fix a task that the intern worked on. This is not an ideal scenario for a host organization and they are better off without an intern in this case. This also demonstrates that organizations will not just take an y unpaid intern because they can. Because of this, once the company accepts an intern, the company is ready to work with an intern for the best possible opportunity.

Click here to find out the differences between a MEDIATED VS. A SELF-ARRANGED PLACEMENT