So just the basic info about me. I'm an IT student at a university in Germany. As part of my curriculum I have to do a three month internship.
So I applied at one of the biggest if not the biggest web dev company in my region. I got the position and went there on monday which was my first day, expecting a little tour and signing the contract. But nope. I got my first project which is basically a web application for a client and got to work. This being my first real “job” I didn't say anything. It wasn't until friday that I got my contract. And to sum it up: 40hrs/week at about 2.80€/hr (For reference minimum wage is about 9.80€/hr.) or to be precise with what's in the contract: 450€/Month.
Not only do I get a fraction of the minimum wage while working on a client project on my own, but I even have to do the same hours as everyone else. Remember the 40hrs/week? It's more like 45hrs/week since my 1hr break per day doesn't count to the 40hrs. This wouldn't be that bad if I would get paid fairly but at 2.80€/h it's a whole other story.
So yeah .. even in a country like Germany interns are treated like garbage and are getting exploited.