So I read another post on here a while ago about mandatory internships in Europe and I just need to get this off my chest: It's so fucking bullshit.
I don't know how other countries do it, but here in the Netherlands many educations force an intenrship to be completed before you are able to graduate. Now I think internships for college students are a good idea, they definitely help you build more experience than just reading and learning about your field. My problem lies with the fact that I have to work 40 hours a week for 4-5 months straight until you meet the 800 hour requirement.
That's 800 hours of work that you are NOT getting paid for. If you're lucky, you can get a little compensation but it's laughable the amount that they're paying you. During my last internship I got paid 150 euro's a month. That meant I was basically paid 82 cents an hour and everyone I talked to, parents, teachers, friends all said the same: Be glad that you're being paid at all. No, I'm not glad that I'm being paid less per day as a Software developer than I would make per hour as a grocery store clerk.
And don't think they're going to go easy on you because you're still a student. I had to work my ass off every day and keeping up with deadlines even though I barely knew what I was doing. You can still get fired if you're note able to keep up, in fact I saw that happen to a lot of students in my class, who then need to go overboard with applying for new internships because you don't want to fall behind.
The worst part? I have to do this two times in my 3 year education. Basically an entire school year, that I pay for, is spent working for someone who barely pays me anything, if anything at all. And I consider myself one of the lucky ones, I get to sit in an office all day. A friend of mine was an electrician, he had to work in the freezing cold, going around the country, and what did he have to show for it on his bank account? A big fat 0. That means that if you're not living under someone elses roof, you have to either get another job on top of the 40 hour work week or loan more and go into even greater debt when you're done with school. I seriously can't believe this shit is legal.