Re: Interns @ $10 an Hour

[Beth Agnew <bagnew -at- INSYSTEMS -dot- COM>]

For interns, $10 an hour is quite acceptable, as long as it's a true
internship position where the person will be receiving training and have a
chance to gain valuable experience. It's the intrinsic value of the
position that balances the low wage. As others have said, students who use
the work term for college credit and practical experience shouldn't expect
more than that.

I'd like to think that our interns will consider their term here much more
valuable than the money they've received. I'd love to pay our co-op
students a lot more, but the budget won't support that. Instead, I can
provide a rich learning experience, instill some work ethic if they don't
already have one, and help someone along the career path in the same way I
was helped many years ago.

Still, there's a cost to me and my department which makes a higher salary
unjustifiable. It's costing us a comparable amount in time and resources,
but we feel it's an investment. We get the opportunity to identify poten
tial full-time or contract candidates, and we do get some good work out of
them while they're here. They're often a source of fresh ideas, too.

What I object to are employers who see internships as a source of cheap
labor to be exploited. Fortunately, our co-op (internship) programs here in
Canada seem to curb that very well.

--Beth

Beth Agnew
Senior Technical Writer, InSystems Technologies Inc.
65 Allstate Parkway, Suite 100  Tel: (905) 513-1400 ext. 280
Markham, Ontario, Canada L3R 9X1        Fax: (905) 513-1419
mailto:bagnew -at- insystems -dot- com    Visit us at: http://www.insystems.com

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