Unpaid IB internships?

I was applying to IB internships for the fall in the city my Uni is located it and noticed that there are more than a few IB/PE/VC firms that have unpaid internships. I know that the experience we get from these companies is invaluable and being a sophomore it doesn't give me much right to complain but still, it's ridiculous that these companies wouldn't pay?? i mean they earn millions in fees, it is too much to pay a decent wage nothing crazy

7 Comments
 

Eh, for a freshman or sophomore i don’t see anything wrong with it. If you look at everything in finance with the scope of ‘well they make millions in fees’ then you probably won’t be happy throughout your career. I understand your point but for sophomore and freshman especially it’s providing an opportunity for most kids to get their feet wet and if they don’t pay then they don’t pay

 

I hear the argument and maybe it’s fair, just not sure the legality of it. Prob best to consult a lawyer before hiring an unpaid intern imho. But if the kid wants to work for free then not sure what can be done. Still doesn’t seem so nice/right to me. Does kinda seem like borderline taking advantage of a young kid for free labor. Kinda like child labor

Not sure how hard it is for these firms to pay even minimum wage and if they can’t pay minimum wage to a college intern they prob have bigger fish to fry from the sound of it from the little I hear so far but I could be very wrong and off on all this. So just a small thought

 
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