Zoos taking advantage of volunteers and interns?

Well its probably to test dedication by weeding out potential internship seekers because of higher demand with the slow recovery of basically every western economy the "employer" can be choosy in regards to things like this.

Now I am sorta glad for all the rigid internship rules in Education. Shenandoah is exactly right. If an internship was three months but you couldn't get a Zoo job as soon as you were done its pointless. A year of experience gets your foot in the door.

 

Yeah I think the economic issues are partly to blame. It's just unfortunate for people trying to get into the industry at this time.

Regarding your second statement, if it were true that these longer internships did guarantee you a job then they certainly would be worthwhile, but they don't seem to promise any more than a shorter one would so it's hard to see whether at the end of the day you just end up doing more "free work" than you actually have to to get the job you want.

 

Almost all internships currently listed on the AAZK website, and almost all I've watched listed there over the past few months, have housing included.

 

Well, you know what P.T. Barnum (supposedly) said: "there's a sucker born every minute". The only other industry I can think of that takes advantage of doe-eyed kids like that is the entertainment industry.

 

Aviation does, too - at least in the US. People have to put out a lot of time and money into getting certifications and ratings and building hours before anyone will hire them. And then they usually get hired as a flight instructor making barely anything until they've built up a lot more hours.

It happens anywhere where the supply of employees is much greater than the demand for them. Companies can hire only the top contenders, which translates to a lot of experience prior to being hired.

 

It's not too bad here in Australia. The big bucks for us is in training students from developing countries whose governments send them here to get trained to fly aircraft.

Maybe another industry that takes advantage of unpaid interns is conservation organisations. I have no evidence to back it up, but as you said, whenever supply outstrips demand, abuses must occur.

I should point out that I did many summer internships while I was a student (not zoo related) and every time I was paid a decent wage. The concept of doing an unpaid internship is foreign for me, because I can't imagine how the bills would be paid!!

 

Another avenue into the industry is school/training programs such as Moorpark, where students pay to become enrolled. Whilst the fees associated may be high ($16-20K+ per year) the probability of securing a (desired) position after completion would (assumably) be greater. I have no connection to Moorpark by the way, link below

Admissions Information - Teaching Zoo - Current Students - Moorpark College