Evidently not, according to a survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).
Unpaid internships led to full-time jobs 36 percent of the time with a median starting salary of $35,721 a year, according to survey results. In contrast, new hires with no internship experience were awarded a slightly higher starting salary, $37,087 a year, but at a slightly lower rate hiring percentage of 35.2.
Best off of all were paid interns, who were hired at a 63 percent clip to the median tune of $51,930 a year.
Meanwhile, both the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are hot on the trail of employers who use unpaid interns to do the work of paid employees. According to the DOL and IRS, unpaid interns must be treated like students and trained, not used to do work that paid employees should be doing.
Participants in the survey were all college graduates, or those soon to graduate with bachelor's degrees.