Paid or unpaid, interns want to learn

Interns hold a meeting to discuss their job training at a newspaper company in Seoul. Most interns expect to gain practical experience during their internship before embarking on their careers. / Korea Times file

By Yoon Sung-won, Park Jin-hai, Kwon Ji-youn

An internship is a type of on-the-job training for white-collar and professional careers. Interns may be paid or unpaid, and are usually temporary positions.

Although they are typically undergraduate students, interns can also be graduate students or new graduates who want to gain practical experience before embarking on their careers.

Many interns expect to find permanent and paid employment at the last organization in which they interned. Though such opportunities are not always guaranteed, many young jobseekers search for internships as getting a job becomes harder here.

Intern, only by name

The current Labor Standards Act stipulates that unpaid internships are legal once an agreement is made before work begins.

"Anyone who falls under the category of ‘laborer' must receive payment in exchange for work," an official at the Ministry of Employment and Labor said. "A laborer is defined as someone who works for a company or establishment for money."

The key word here is money. The official said that students who claim to need work experience or those who merely want to familiarize themselves with a certain career do not fall under the "laborer" category.

"These are people who want something other than money in exchange for their services," she said. "It is possible to give up the right to receive payment and just learn instead."

She added that if an agreement has been made beforehand, it is possible to hire an intern without paying them since it is understood that the intern will gain something other than money for the experience.

A student examines a bulletin board plastered with flyers recruiting interns at a local university. Many young jobseekers search for internships as finding a job becomes harder. / Korea Times file

On the other hand, some politicians voiced concern over unpaid interns, many of whom suffer from rising college tuition and living expenses.

On Aug. 2, Rep. Choi Min-hee of the opposition Democratic Party submitted a revision bill to provide legal protection for students working in unpaid internships.

Under the current Labor Standards Act, unpaid interns cannot take proper legal action even when they are unfairly treated, working overtime or doing trivial work that is not related to the training.

Lee Hwa-young, 23, said her internship at a large broadcaster was unfulfilling for complicated reasons. Lee mentioned that because her internship was unpaid, she felt less motivated to work to the best of her ability.

"I was there to learn, not to do trivial things including private requests by my boss," she said. "I was an intern only by name. I wasn't asked to do any work during the three-month internship since I didn't know how things worked."

Lee said days went by without so much as a conversation with her boss. Her boss was too tied down and busy to be able to teach her anything, let alone have a conversation with her.

"It was also difficult getting along with other workers," she said. "Because I was an intern, they knew I wouldn't be staying for long. They just didn't bother to get along with me."

Lee confessed that she decided to do the internship to add a line to her resume, but she also wanted to learn something from the experience.

"I took the internship opportunity to learn how to work, not because I already knew it," she added.

Jeung Joo-hee, a public relations team manager at JobKorea, an online job placement portal, told The Korea Times that applicants should check what they can get from the internship before applying.

"Learning is something that comes with the experience of being an intern itself, not what is given by a company or an employer," Jeung said. "Because interns offer services to the company, they should be offered at least a small amount of payment for their efforts ― for example, money for food and transportation."

Internship programs can be a significant benefit to the employer because experienced interns can transition to regular employment within the company with little or no training. However, it also can be a pain in the neck if it is run without a proper system.

Kim Hyun-soon, 38, a lawyer at a mid-sized law firm in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul, said that an internship program does no good for the company without a proper system for the internship.

"Interns stay about a month at best. They report their presence to their superiors and do nothing until they call it a day. Most of them are unpaid," she said.

Kim said as an employer, it is difficult to give interns serious tasks when they have little motivation and leave soon.

"They go as easily as they come. What we can request from those who stay only for a short period of time are simple errands."

What interns expect

Regardless of whether they are paid or unpaid, interns expect to experience actual work during their internships in exchange for services. They also want to determine if they have an interest in a particular career, to create human networks or to gain school credit.

Yun Hee-sun, who worked as an unpaid intern at a radio station when she was a college student, said she fully enjoyed her internship experience.

"Not only did I learn a lot, I was also able to enjoy the experience because I was less pressured and burdened by responsibilities," she said.

Shin said she hates to work under pressure, so work for her during that time was pleasurable and fulfilling. She didn't need to worry about major problems that happened during air time.

"All I needed to do was make sure everything was prepared before the newscaster arrived," she recalled. "I had a lot of time to prepare the cue sheet, and my boss would double-check everything."

She said it was the optimal atmosphere in which to learn.

"I learned everything there is to know about how a radio station works. Plus, I made some really good friends."

Though the internship was unpaid, she found that she didn't need money to motivate her.

"I wanted to make sure I was well-informed about the basics so that when I begin real work at a radio station, I would know what to do," she added.

Lee Da-eun, a college senior who interned for a nonprofit educational organization in the U.S., said her six-month internship helped her plan her career.

"Though salaries were not high, my bosses and co-workers enjoyed working with their private lives guaranteed without being over-burdened by work," Lee said. "I realized I want a job that I can enjoy when I get back to Korea."

Besides things directly related to her career, Lee said she learned how to socialize with others in the workplace.

"My bosses were very respectful when telling me what to do and how to do it," she said. "I want to become a supervisor or a boss who respects others including junior staffers."