Why do companies take interns?
I mean, if I want to get some work done, I can just recruit/hire a good developer and get my work done. Why waste time on a rookie intern?
They get paid-less, sure! But they will take much more time than any experienced developer to complete a project; and we have been learning since childhood, "time is money".
One reasoning which I can think of is that many companies decide, based upon internship performance, if the candidate is good enough for that position. But I don't think so if it really answers, "Why interns?"
(Ironically, right now I am myself an intern at a startup)
Mark
formerly known as M
I think it's just the reasons you said
Even if time is money (a very dubious equivalence), that does not mean time is more valuable than money.
Evaluating applicants is hard, and in some countries it can be hard to get rid of them after a short trial period.
So instead, you take on interns, that way you are pretty confident which ones are good, can easily get rid of the rest, and don't have to pay them much while they learn your system (which they have to anyway, even if experienced).