When you mention the word internship, what does it mean to you? An entry-level job with a cool position? As a freshman at the university, I stumbled upon an internship opportunity at Fao Tek. I became the so-called “Samantha White” during my first unpaid internship. 

On the first day, I was instructed to create a pseudo-account using a name that would be more American or European. They then asked me to respond to customer emails and make phone calls under this fictitious name. It sounded morally wrong, so I left the job on the joining date. 

Is an unpaid internship a golden ticket to career success or just a costly gamble?

Internships have become the standard pathway to entering the job market, especially as competition increases and employers require experience even for entry-level positions. Should we go into unpaid internships headfirst? Or should one reflect on a whole game?

The concept of free work is, by all means, a form of neo-slavery, with the grey area between a learning experience and a free work experience. 

The glamour and the misery of unpaid internships

Think of a fresh graduate or a student who wants to prove their worth. You see a listing posted by some company named Fao Tek (or perhaps one of those other notorious so-called scammy start-ups). 

They promise an experience that’s hands-on and exposes you to reality, but you end up doing tasks like catfishing, coffee runs, and data entry, all for zero dollars at the end of the day. Sounds familiar? 

Such unpaid internships are the root of evil in the lives of many students. They come at a cost, as things like commuting, eating lunch, and having a healthy cup of coffee to keep you alert are all at a price and offer no real payback. More to the point, some do not even provide a certificate or a recommendation. Is this an experience or exploitation? The majority of people will agree that it is the latter. 

The priceless gems in the internship mine

Some organisations care about their interns and have experiences to remember, which cannot be paid with money. Some giant companies also have internship programmes, in which students learn, perform, and get a niche in competitive sectors. 

The interns have a chance to work on actual projects under the tutelage of fully qualified professionals at these places and, more often than not, receive an opportunity to take up full-time employee positions. It is more than a resume line; it’s a platform that accelerates careers.

That is why such necessary experience can make a significant contribution to the value of an unpaid internship, temporarily, according to Afsana Mimi, Senior Executive, Business Development at Momagic Bangladesh. 

She says, “To acquire viable skills, the unpaid internship is a good beginning to gain primary work knowledge and confidence. Nonetheless, she warns that this duration shouldn’t cross six months. Time and effort must be rewarded in terms of paid work after the duration.” She tells us learning is essential, as well as good pay; unpaid internships are a way of showing the door but should not be a permanent measure.

Why do students still take the gamble?

The solution is in the cruelty of the labour market. Experience is also becoming a requirement for employers, even in entry-level positions. Students have no way of gaining that experience without internships. Making the situation worse is the fact that most of the companies require interns to work unpaid full-time hours. 

An unpaid intern can cost anywhere between Tk24,000 and Tk26,000 (food and commuting alone) in a month, which is quite expensive considering the cost of gaining experience. However, lots of students believe they have no option. The add-on to this is that other people would take up unpaid internships, and the process will be repeated.

CNN Academy Fellow Tanvir Mahtab says, “Unpaid internships can prove to be worth it when the experience is genuine, which involves a realistic, practical experience and strong networking opportunities, especially among established firms. They may, however, not be worth the time when there is no learning and development. Still, if there’s any payment, then it is being acknowledged for the efforts students make and reduces their financial burden a little. Thus, an internship is a win-win situation. He also adds that internships should be a two-way street where both the organisation and the student benefit fairly.” 

How can you distinguish the good and the bad?

Thus, what is their solution or a way out of the internship traps? How can students land golden opportunities? Unpaid internships are not all the same, and Sartaj Bin Lutful, front-end assistant under the operations department of Costco, Canada, notes that some are taking advantage by not providing any countable experience. 

He says, “Not all unpaid internships are created equal; some exploit free labour without offering meaningful learning. Unpaid internships are worth the time and money only if they provide mentorship, skill-building, and industry exposure, especially in the South Asian highly saturated job market. Otherwise, your time might be better spent elsewhere, like paid work, volunteering, or personal projects. To find the gems, students should research the company’s reputation, inquire about mentorship and actual projects, and consider the compensation, as well as seek a firsthand review from a former intern.”

Who benefits most from unpaid internships?

Not all people can deal with unpaid internships. One of the final-year students at the Army IBA, Sarwar Hossain Saikat, who has gained experience through an unpaid internship, believes that such internships are not worth the learning experience for everyone. He says, “They offer peer learning, time management, exposure to specific departments, and some opportunity to apply knowledge in real-world tasks. Unpaid internships are likely to provide less value to people who already have some experience of work or have participated in volunteer work, as they are already used to operating in such settings.”

The bigger picture: Should we change the system?

Unpaid internships may prove too expensive for the talented young, barring them even before they begin. Various professionals have testified that internships should be supported by stipends or at least travel expenses. Talent is never supposed to be celled by bank balance after all.

Embrace the internship, but choose wisely

Is the gamble with an internship a good idea, worth the time, effort, and money? The reply is yes, with wide-open eyes. When selected well, unpaid internships are unavoidable rungs on the way to a promising career. They provide valuable experience, connections, and training that defy classroom experiences. Not every internship is a good internship, though. 

Avoid the Fao Teks and ABCFix solutions of the world, which consume your time and energy without rewarding you. Instead, target well-established organisations such as bKash, Grameenphone, BRAC, Nestlé, Robi Axiata, Shohoz, Pathao, and Nestlé Bangladesh, where your input counts and you get compensated with authentic experience. However, the internship experience is a tug-of-war game of concepts that is worth taking only under the condition that you play to your advantage. 

Samiha Mamun is an undergraduate student of Army IBA (Affiliated to Bangladesh University of Professionals), Savar, Dhaka. She can be reached at [email protected]