Economy is struggling.
Jobs are vanishing.
Fresh college graduates have nowhere to go: defer graduation, accept any employment (unpaid temporary positions) or use a consultant to keep the visa status afloat.
In not so popular fields, students have always gone for unpaid internships in dream of converting them to full-time. But the phenomenon is now spreading to highly coveted programs including MBAs. Not only has the placement rate been adversely affected in the last 2 years but also students looking to intern are restricted to the few offering unpaid positions.

For the career-switchers and college students, internships are the vital means to know their dream industry from inside. With the hefty school fees, an unpaid internship in a city like New York can skin them alive. It is still acceptable if one has a great chance of landing upon a full-time job offer on the basis of that internship. However, that might be an assumption you don’t want to make.

Consider Marc Therrien. After graduating from Elon University last spring with a degree in business and sports management, Therrien spent the long, hot summer slogging for a job. He sent out 100 resumes, got two interviews —and a resounding zero offers. In September, Therrien gave up and took an unpaid internship with the Boston Blazers.

And there he has stayed and stayed, the perma intern par excellence, borrowing from mom and dad and getting himself deeper into debt. “Even now, with ten months of good solid experience in professional sports, I still don’t seem to get many call backs or emails after I apply to a job,” says Therrien.

Full BW article here.