4 ms·

Mark Cuban has a lot to say from the other side of the coin. He tried to set up an unpaid internship program and was denied by their legal department. http://

Mark Cuban has a lot to say from the other side of the coin. He tried to set up an unpaid internship program and was denied by their legal department. http://blogmaverick.com/2009/09/05/want-an-unpaid-internship-so-you-can-get-valuable-experience-screw-you/ http://blogmaverick.com/2009/09/05/want-an-unpaid-internship...

earl 16y ago
Yeah. Having to pay people when they work for you. What sort of crazy shit will people dream up next?
- Empact 16y ago
  Barring mutually consensual exchanges?
- phamilton 16y ago
  I think you missed his argument. He isn't saying "We want to take advantage of interns." He's saying that there are a lot of interesting positions and projects which frequently are scrapped because they are not financially viable. He wanted to offer these positions to unpaid interns, giving them press passes and full access to the resources they need. Either they turn into financially viable projects, in which these interns have a job prospect, or they become a valuable bit of hands on experience for a resume.
  - antiterra 16y ago
    A valuable bit of hands on experience working on a failed project considered too risky for a big-time entrepreneur to waste minimum wage on? Sign me up.
    - phamilton 16y ago
      Sounds like a lot of open source software.
      - bugsy 16y ago
        True, but with open source at the end of it you have the right to continue using what you created. In this other case, you are gifting the value of your work to the corporation irrevocably and retain no rights.
        phamilton 16y ago
        But you also get to slap that company's name on your resume. Never having been in a hiring position, I'm curious as to which sounds better: "I worked on OpenOffice.org providing support for a specific file extension" "I worked for Microsoft as an intern. I built support for a file extension in Office 11, though it was not used in the final product." While the first statement has the value of "Let me show you what I wrote", I don't think the second statement is anything to scoff at.
        bugsy 16y ago
        Microsoft doesn't have unpaid internships, nor do they have internships you have to pay for. Nor does Google. Do you have any examples of technology companies with great reputations that charge students for internships?
        phamilton 16y ago
        Nope. Just trying to draw an analogy. Journalism is a very different ballgame. The concept of high profile open source journalism is non existant. My question wasn't about whether they were paid or not, it was about whether a scrapped feature is still valuable resume experience. The logic chain is this: If a scrapped feature is still valuable resume experience, then working on a project not deemed worthwhile by a corporation is still valuable experience. If it's still valuable experience, there may be situations in which it is beneficial to take such an unpaid internship. The whole argument here isn't whether or not to pay interns for such a job. It's already established that they will not be paid for such a position. Either unpaid interns do it or nobody does it. End of story. The question is whether or not to allow people to pursue such an opportunity without pay. I think there are many people that would benefit from such an arrangement. Not just students, but with the high unemployment rates, anyone trying to gain a little more experience or get their foot in the door.

earl 16y ago

Yeah. Having to pay people when they work for you. What sort of crazy shit will people dream up next?

Empact 16y ago
Barring mutually consensual exchanges?
phamilton 16y ago
I think you missed his argument. He isn't saying "We want to take advantage of interns." He's saying that there are a lot of interesting positions and projects which frequently are scrapped because they are not financially viable. He wanted to offer these positions to unpaid interns, giving them press passes and full access to the resources they need. Either they turn into financially viable projects, in which these interns have a job prospect, or they become a valuable bit of hands on experience for a resume.
- antiterra 16y ago
  A valuable bit of hands on experience working on a failed project considered too risky for a big-time entrepreneur to waste minimum wage on? Sign me up.
  - phamilton 16y ago
    Sounds like a lot of open source software.
    - bugsy 16y ago
      True, but with open source at the end of it you have the right to continue using what you created. In this other case, you are gifting the value of your work to the corporation irrevocably and retain no rights.
      - phamilton 16y ago
        But you also get to slap that company's name on your resume. Never having been in a hiring position, I'm curious as to which sounds better: "I worked on OpenOffice.org providing support for a specific file extension" "I worked for Microsoft as an intern. I built support for a file extension in Office 11, though it was not used in the final product." While the first statement has the value of "Let me show you what I wrote", I don't think the second statement is anything to scoff at.
        bugsy 16y ago
        Microsoft doesn't have unpaid internships, nor do they have internships you have to pay for. Nor does Google. Do you have any examples of technology companies with great reputations that charge students for internships?
        phamilton 16y ago
        Nope. Just trying to draw an analogy. Journalism is a very different ballgame. The concept of high profile open source journalism is non existant. My question wasn't about whether they were paid or not, it was about whether a scrapped feature is still valuable resume experience. The logic chain is this: If a scrapped feature is still valuable resume experience, then working on a project not deemed worthwhile by a corporation is still valuable experience. If it's still valuable experience, there may be situations in which it is beneficial to take such an unpaid internship. The whole argument here isn't whether or not to pay interns for such a job. It's already established that they will not be paid for such a position. Either unpaid interns do it or nobody does it. End of story. The question is whether or not to allow people to pursue such an opportunity without pay. I think there are many people that would benefit from such an arrangement. Not just students, but with the high unemployment rates, anyone trying to gain a little more experience or get their foot in the door.