Also, I think a lot of what makes it a good or a bad internship can depend on your manager. Everyone at the place I worked at was nice, but I know for sure that it wouldn't have been as positive and helpful an experience if I had been working for some of the other people there compared to working for my manager.
If your manager understands that the idea of an internship is to exchange work for experience, skills and development, and they are committed to helping you gain those, then you should be alright. But if your manager has just heard that you can get well-qualified young people to do your work for free, then it's gonna suck.
I'm pretty sure this applies to paid jobs too though, you can get lots of good development etc if your boss is interested in doing that, or you can stagnate and learn nothing if they aren't.
Are you looking at going into design then? I think some industries are worse than others. In general the harder the industry is to get into, the more young well-qualified people trying desperately to get work, even for free, the more these internships will become completely standard. If it was me in charge I'd either crack down, or tolerate it but regulate it properly with some sort of national scheme, the current system is a mess.
Also, I think a lot of what makes it a good or a bad internship can depend on your manager. Everyone at the place I worked at was nice, but I know for sure that it wouldn't have been as positive and helpful an experience if I had been working for some of the other people there compared to working for my manager.
If your manager understands that the idea of an internship is to exchange work for experience, skills and development, and they are committed to helping you gain those, then you should be alright. But if your manager has just heard that you can get well-qualified young people to do your work for free, then it's gonna suck.
I'm pretty sure this applies to paid jobs too though, you can get lots of good development etc if your boss is interested in doing that, or you can stagnate and learn nothing if they aren't.
Are you looking at going into design then? I think some industries are worse than others. In general the harder the industry is to get into, the more young well-qualified people trying desperately to get work, even for free, the more these internships will become completely standard. If it was me in charge I'd either crack down, or tolerate it but regulate it properly with some sort of national scheme, the current system is a mess.