5 Thoughts About Unpaid Internships
Have you read “Hiring is Rising in One Area: Low-Paid Interns” by Hillary Chura in the Nov. 27 New York Times?
It is a brilliant, recession-proof way to double your work force, said Drew McLellan, whose McLellan Marketing Group in Des Moines has long hired unpaid interns. “It’s more money to the bottom line for you.”
Wow, I thought when I first read the article. Oh wait, it gets better. A company interviewed called Fast Track Internships charges $799 to help an intern find an unpaid job.
Perhaps even worse for college students and new graduates?
And internships are no longer just the province of college students. More unemployed professionals are seeking them — whether to test-drive a new career or simply to keep themselves occupied, according to internship placement services. Mr. Rodems, of Fast Track Internships, said 10 percent of his clients were college graduates changing professions, compared with just 1 percent in 2008. And, he said, internships are increasingly running throughout the year, not just in the summer.
I have many opinions about unpaid internships, a few of which I will share here.
- Unpaid internships are not always illegal. There are laws that govern internships that are hard to police. So, know what’s legal and what’s not. Just because it’s unpaid does not make it illegal.
- Don’t pay for the privilege of an internship — paid or unpaid. Companies like Fast Track Internships and University of Dreams, in my opinion, are at best rip-offs and at worst complete scams. You have the merits to obtain an internship on your own, so go out and do it!
- An unpaid internship is not the same as slave labor. Many of the article’s comments liken unpaid internships to “slave labor.” This is absolutely not the case, and those who say so should be ashamed of themselves. I had the honor to learn more about one of our country’s greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln, this weekend at the National Museum of American History. What brought our country into civil war during his presidency — forcing people to work against their will for absolutely no personal gain — is slavery. Unpaid internships are not slave labor. They are a choice which only you can make.
- Unpaid internships are for everyone, not just the wealthy. The second most popular comment was that unpaid internships are reserved for the children of wealthy families. Again, untrue. There are ways to make it work. For example, if you’re in school, arrange to work 5-10 hours per week at your internship so the remainder of your hours spent outside the classroom and studying can be devoted to a paid part-time job. Or, if you’ve graduated or are on break, arrange to work at the internship up to 20 hours per week with the rest spent at that paid part-time job. You don’t have to be wealthy — you just have to know how to manage your time and negotiate an arrangement that will work best for you.
- Unfortunately, unpaid internships might be necessary to score that entry-level job. Not every internship opportunity is paid — that’s a fact. Instead of spending your time condemning the employer for their practices, focus your energies on landing an internship. Trust me, you’re going to need the experience. I know you know plenty of people who’ve had a number of internships and still don’t have entry-level jobs, but their searches would likely take even longer without that experience.
Ok, open the floodgates. What are your thoughts about unpaid internships? And I’d love to hear more than just rants — what ideas do you have to improve internships in this country?
Trisha Ross
I agree with your posting, I also read this article and then re-read it and found myself disagreeing with a lot of it. I work for a non-profit organization in Pittsburgh, Coro Center for Civic Leadership. The program that I work within is The Regional Internship Center of Southwestern Pennsylvania. We are a free online clearinghouse that connects internship seekers with employers in 14 counties in our region. Employers post their internship position descriptions and the seekers apply for them by sending their resumes and cover letters through our system. We also agree that an internship should be mutually beneficial and we monitor the postings that are on our site. In addition, we host employer workshops on best internship practices and we give presentations to universities on the benefits of internships. Thank you for this posting!
Posted 11-30-2009
Joe Testani
Well-stated…. I work for a University and assist traditional-aged undergraduate students (18-22) explore their career options as well as search for internships, jobs and graduate school. There are laws that do govern internships (FLSA: Fair Labor Standards Act) but there are those firms that do take advantage of students that truly are looking for experience to get an edge in a field or just “try-on” a career or job to see if it is something that they would like to pursue in the future. We are looking for ways as a university to support more of these students with funding so it is not just for “wealthy kids” but for all students that are interested in learning and making informed decisions about their careers after they graduate. Internships that are unpaid also need not be 40 hours a week and can sometimes be crafted to the schedule and factors that often influence these decisions (housing, paying their way through college, flexibility, etc). Thank you for your posting as well as your comments…
Posted 11-30-2009
Gary Alan Miller
Unpaid internships have always been a reality in some industries, and in the past few years they’ve become increasingly prevalent. In an ideal world, students would get paid for their internships. But, an ideal world is not where we live.I do think that unpaid internships favor those who can afford to not work for pay. To say otherwise is folly — of course it helps if one doesn’t have to earn money to pay for school or rent. Some employers demand a full-time schedule of their interns, which doesn’t leave much time for making needed rent money. But, I do agree that there are ways to make things work, and students should explore all of those options.Many campuses have programs that make unpaid internships more realistic even for those that need to be paid.
For example, here at UNC we have a $1000 stipend that students who are
interning with a non-profit or arts organization can apply for. And
there are other types of support available on campus, for travel or for
positions that involve doing research, for example.The heart of the argument is to not discount something simply because it’s unpaid. Explore all options and then make informed decisions.
Posted 12-1-2009
Emily Luiz
I did an internship through the University of Dreams program and I didn’t think it was a rip off at all. I wanted to move to Chicago, but not by myself and had a hard time finding a place to live and getting in contact with employers since I wasn’t familiar with the area at all. With the U of D you don’t just get an internship, you get housing with at least a 100 other students, weekend activities, two meals a day, seminars with accomplished professionals and more. I’m still in contact with a lot of my friends from that program and I got school credit for it.
Posted 12-1-2009
Dwayne Callis
You may want to do some research on University of Dreams. I have read and heard interviews with many students that interned with U of D and their sentiments echo those of Emily above.Earlier this year there was lots of talk about these “paid for internships”, but the benefits and cost that Emily spells out were never really mentioned.
Posted 12-4-2009