[gregjor]

I can't comment any more than I have on the situation the OP describes, but you raise a couple of good points in your reply.

Companies hiring interns as PR stunts and low-cost labor for menial tasks, or just throwing them in the deep end without mentoring, seems fairly common these days. Then employers complain that they can't find junior people.

I got started in my career as an intern, paid. I got assigned two mentors who had responsibility for getting me from newb to productive. They put in the time and effort and gave me valuable guidance, helping me learn the tools, the code base, and the organization. When I got hired the project manager told me I had no more than three months to sink or swim. I got offered full-time after a couple of months, and before long I got assigned to mentor new hires. I have always thought of that as one of the best places I have worked, and probably the best hiring process. That happened in 1979. Over the years I have seen mentoring and on-the-job training practically disappear, and now eager young people fresh out of school can't find those opportunities.