I believe that internships should be paid. Unpaid internships sound unprofessional, fake and a sign of carelessness to me. Here are some reasons why I feel like this:-
Posting a “paid” internship & offering good money, sends a positive message to the applicant that you are looking for the best candidates only. You will find the best interns among them. All you want is cream as you are not looking for hundreds of non-eligible candidates.
Because of getting a good amount, the intern will always be serious and attentive towards the works & tasks assigned. It would be like competition among the interns to perform and become the best intern. This will directly help the organisation to grow.
A satisfied intern is not only an intern who is gaining experience and learning something in your organization. An intern is also someone who could do mouth publicity of your organisation which can build an image among the people about your organization. Make sure the image built is good and that will happen if you pay the intern well.
When you are giving enough money to intern, the steering wheel is in your hand. You will always have the upper hand. You can assign projects to the intern without any feeling of guilt. It would take the pressure off you.
Now onwards, I suppose you would think of paying an intern in a different way altogether. An intern is also a part of the organisation who is delivering extreme values. It raises the standard of the company. Most of the big organisations pay their interns unbelievably well. It could be a fresher’s monthly salary in any mediocre organisation. Different organisations think differently. You can extract a lot of work from the interns but you must pay them well and make sure that only good words circulate everywhere.
The Top Notch Writer 