So how does a student or recent graduate know when to cut her losses and walk away from a situation where she's being treated unfairly, and when to suck it up and take on the grunt work and extra responsibilities with a smile, because the experience is worth it?

Driven by passion, you have just signed away (an estimated) four months of your life. And you are painfully unsure of what you’ll get in return. Welcome to the predicament of an unpaid media intern.

I’d take a year off from school and work as an unpaid intern. A year and a half later, though, I still can’t answer the biggest question behind that gamble: Were the unpaid internships worthwhile?

"Your boss eats a hot dog during your interview."

Already in the U.K., the courts have demonstrated a willingness to punish businesses who exploit interns—it remains to be seen whether similar verdicts will be reached in the U.S.