-Photo via Biojobblog.com

How bad is the economy? Even the coffee lackeys are going to be out of work. For the 2009 internship season, companies are hiring almost 21 percent fewer interns. In a double shaft to college students everywhere, the number of applicants for these positions has increased by around the same percentage. That leaves far more people vying for far fewer positions.

If you are truly, truly desperate for an internship (and loaded), the WSJ reports that parents have been forking over thousands of dollars to buy internships for their children. Also, the bizarrely named University of Dreams will guarantee you an internship, if you pay them $5,000 to $9,000 dollars, that is.

The glimmer of hope is that the pay rates for internships have actually gone up for this year, but, even if you nab a high paying internship, you will still have this to contend with.

 -DJB