When asked about their experiences in the internship field many of the students responded in harmony. They were all discontented with the amount of stress and lack of incentives that came with volunteering in these workplaces.
While some internships within the school community are paid, most of them are unpaid. However, even within the unpaid experiences many find that they are doing more than they should be.
Tasks given can range from a lot of different factors. The supervisor you have, the workplace you’re in, and how proactive you are. Common jobs can be answering the phone, helping with paperwork, working under someone to help troubleshoot software, even delivering items.
Abhishek Shanmugam and Osiel Iglesias are both part of the NYPH (New York Presbyterian Hospital) internship through the medical assisting shop, Rehan Haque is part of the IT shop program. I have asked them to describe to me they’re opinions and thoughts about their experiences so far.
“In all honesty it’s an amazing experience, it gives me a chance to meet the nurses and spend time with them. It results in me having a good feeling about being there.” Shanmugam said.
When interviewed Iglesias responded in a similar manner, he was very enthusiastic about having this opportunity,
“My internship hasn’t been as stressful for my mental or physical health. If anything, I like the fact that I have more responsibilities that keep me occupied to improve my organizational skills and time management.”
All in all it is a positive experience and an opportunity they are glad for but when asked about workload and incentives given there was a different mindset.
“We are given work that actual officials would do.” Abhishek Shanmugam said
Some even believe that they should receive minimum wage. While others think that it will be a motivating standpoint for them.
“Gaining money would be good motivation as I could spend money on what I want while I build my resume by completing the internship.” Rehan Haque said
As a high school student juggling all this during a day can get very stressful. It may feel like a job or even a second job to some.
“I do think that we should get paid. We take hours to complete and help out with different career wise tasks in a workplace environment,” Shanmugam said.
After all the work completed at the site there is very little to look forward to apart from the knowledge that you gain from that time period.
“Although my internship feels like a part time job, it does not provide the incentives one would receive such as pay or community service hours, although I enjoy my time at the internship, I would like my time there to be more than a skill or experience I can put in my resumé,” Iglesias said.
Many believe that they should be getting paid automatically for their hard work, motivation and own benefit.
“We as students should get paid in order to improve our learning experience as we would work harder to get money and in turn learn from the experience,” Haque said.
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