Unpaid Internship
Noun · Hacker Culture
Definitions
An internship role that offers experience or exposure without pay, often criticized for favoring people who can afford to work without compensation. In tech, the term is tied to broader debates about access, labor ethics, and talent pipelines.
In plain English: An internship where the person works without getting paid.
Example: "Calling it an opportunity doesn’t fix the fact that an unpaid internship filters out people without financial cushion."
Related Terms
- Side Project
- Soft Skills
- Work-Life Balance
- Upskilling
- Sabbatical Tech
- Tech Layoff
- AWS Certification
- Backend Developer
- Career Growth
- Career Ladder
- Clock In
- Cloud Certification
- Data Science
- Day in the Life
- Designer Developer
- Engineer
- Fellow
- Foot in the Door
- Frontend Developer
- Full Circle
- Gig Economy
- Glass Ceiling
- Great Resignation