Not Worth The Experience - Intern Copy Solutions Employee Review

I want to start out by addressing the review headline. Yes, you will gain experience, but in my opinion, it is NOT worth it. For anyone who is thinking of applying, I strongly recommend applying elsewhere so that your time will not be wasted. Below are the issues that I had with this company as an intern. I am not doing this to damage the company's reputation, but because I feel it is my duty to warn anyone who is interested about what they will be getting themselves into. As mentioned, the job ads are VERY misleading. The only thing that was accurate was the fact that this internship is unpaid. They will help you fill out any paperwork if you are taking this internship on for academic credit, however, it wasn't really treated as a priority for the people in charge. Most of the time, the paperwork process was done very late or as an afterthought which I felt was terrible because there is a time limit as to when the schools want all of the documents submitted. The ads also mention how you will be partnered with a coach/mentor who would help guide you. You will get a coach, however, it is not with an expert or an employee in that field. For example, if you are aiming for the Accounting internship, this company has no accounting department or even any accounting person. Same goes for all of the other intern positions. You will be left to figure everything out on your own. And even worse, you will sometimes be given tasks that really should have training or a guide, and NONE is provided. For example, with the HR internship, the intern was given no training on how to properly screen resumes and was not told what criteria to look for until after two weeks. As mentioned previously, this internship is unpaid. During the interview with the owner, it is mentioned that the reason for this is because the work being done by the interns are not for profit. I feel that this is a lie because the tasks given for all interns help the company profit in some way. For a direct example, the HR intern was pressured into filling out the position for a full-time sales person. Would that not count as profit for the company? Profit was also made indirectly. For example, with the Computer Science interns, the work focused on the company's website. If this work will not generate a profit, why add a page dedicated to the items being sold? I feel that this is very exploitative. I mentioned the lies, the lack of training, and how exploitative CSI is, but the biggest grievance really boils down to the company’s LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY and the fact that they are UNGRATEFUL. What really highlights this fact was a moment that happened during my time there. The owner set up an intern meeting that was essentially used as a way for them to talk badly about not only our performance, but the performance of past interns. They went into detail and called out specific names of both present and past interns because they did not complete their tasks. Keep in mind that this program only lasts 3 months and the work given is not easy work that can be easily completed. I believe that feedback is fair, but you also get what you give back and this company has not really given anything back to the interns. During the beginning of this meeting, the owner talked about how great the internship program was, and then unironically mentioned how only 10-20% of interns actually complete the program. Instead of talking about why the company might be at fault for such a low completion rate, they once again blamed the interns because they were unreliable and not committed. This is far from the truth. Keep in mind that the interns are already taking this program on without compensation. They are commuting and have signed on for a 3 month commitment. The high turnover rate (at least one intern leaving each week) should be red flags that there is something wrong with the program and that something should change. But nope. According to the owner, the program is perfect. Other smaller grievances that bothered me include: unreliable internet connection, toxic environment, staff saying bad things about interns behind their back, and how cheap the company feels. Keep in mind that they are using the 2007 version of Microsoft Outlook.