I just saw an article about "interning" and I can't avoid ranting for a second. This concept of "interning"....is that the stupidest thing in the world or what?
In any other part of the world, if you were forced to work without pay, it would be called "slavery" or "forced labor". But, in America, some corporations (and politicians) have actually managed to talk people into the idea that working for free is a good thing!
It'd be funny if it weren't so sadly ludicrous.
Of course, it's based on the concept of "apprenticeship" which has been around for ages. An apprentice works for years with a master of the craft and then one day is able to be his own boss and reap the benefits of his study.
But the difference is that an "internship" usually leads to a path of DECLINING value.
And what's really funny is that people actually believe that an "internship" is better than getting paid! Seriously. If you were to go to a college campus and ask students if they'd rather work as a carpenter's apprentice for $20 an hour....or go answer phones in some corporate office for free....
...they actually choose to work for free!
So, if you're looking to get an "internship", let me offer you a perspective you might not have considered:
- If your "internship" goes according to plan, the best-case scenario is that you're going to wind up getting hired for around $24,000 per year to do what you were already doing for free anyway: answering the phone, taking messages, picking up the boss's dry cleaning. Or whatever.
- The likelihood that you could earn far more money far more quickly is almost guaranteed. The only real satisfaction you will have as an intern is the dangling carrot that the boss keeps waving about how you're "building your resume" and "making connections".
- If you DO manage to put up with the office politics long enough to get yourself hired, the only real "payoff" you get at that point is the ability to kick around the latest crop of interns who have signed up to work for the office for free!
Let me offer you a different possibility:
What if....you could own your own home-based business in an $11 billion per year industry where you can create your own fortune without having to kiss anyone's butt?
What if....you can earn a multiple six-figure income before the current crop of interns ever figure out how to take a second coffee-break without the boss finding out?
What if...the path from where you are to where you WANT to be didn't have to involve boardrooms, office politics, glass ceilings, or the so-called "perks" that don't do anything to help you with your financial well-being?
What if...you could replace the promise of a fancy title, pretty business cards, a fancy desk chair and a key to the executive washroom with the reality of living where you want to live, driving what you want to drive and doing what you want to do?
What if....the only paperwork you had to do were deposit slips at your bank?
What if...you earned more in a month than a hired-intern earns in a year?
What if.....well, you've got the picture.
Interning -- and employment in general for that matter -- is for people who think they need to postpone their dreams in order to live someone else's dreams.
When are you going to start living YOUR dreams? How much time do you have on this earth? When would NOW be the right time to start doing what YOU want to do?
Visit
LibertyLeague.com today and find out how I jumped out of the rat race and landed in a life without limits. If you like what you see, give me a call and I'll be glad to show you how I did it and you can too.
Tony Rush
Liberty League International
