Once upon a time, an “intern” was something like a doctor-in-training. Then sometime — was it the mid 1980s? — somebody got the bright idea of creating summer “internships” for college students. Companies got some free or cheap work, college students got some experience to put on their résumés. OK so far.

Unfortunately the “intern” racket has grown into something like indentured servitude. Internships are no longer a summer vacation phenomenon, but year round, and the people expected to fill the internships are no longer students, but graduates. I keep an eye out for writer’s jobs, and it seems these days what used to be entry-level paid positions are now almost always unpaid internships, often of undetermined length. It’s a ripoff, but what are you going to do? As long as somebody is willing to give labor away for free, companies will expect it.

Now I’ve learned the unpaid labor scam has been cranked up another notch. Apparently there’s a new phenomenon called “prelancing.” As I understand it, prelancing is for out-of-work people who already have too much job experience to benefit from putting an “internship” on their résumés. Otherwise, it seems to work like an internship — an individual is asked to give away labor in order to be considered for a paying job sometime in the future.

A 30-something laid off former technology manager wrote about his “prelancing” experience for the Wall Street Journal. As you might expect from the Wall Street Journal, the guy actually is excited about the opportunity to “bolster my résumé” and create “positive change where it is needed” by doing unpaid work as a consultant in Silicon Valley. What a tool.

Just wait — the next step will be that “interns” and “prelancers” will be expected to pay fees to the companies for the “experience.” At least sharecroppers got a shack to live in and a plot for growing vegetables.