The Unpaid Internship: Friend or Foe?

Applying for jobs post-graduation forced me to toy with the idea of doing yet another unpaid internship. Two summers ago, I interned for a non-profit organization and on Capitol Hill. Last summer, I interned for The Clinton Foundation. Each time, my parents graciously underwrote the cost of me living in fairly expensive cities. I realize that those opportunities were a luxury, not a right. My parents gave me the opportunity to take advantage of new cities, developing opportunities and the chance to find out what I was passionate about. But now, four years of private school tuition and two unpaid internships later, I am forced to re-evaluate just how willing I am to essentially work for free.

It is common knowledge that most, if not all unpaid internships, have an element of mundane, administrative or secretarial work attached. My time at the non-profit organization was spent doing hours of research and observing meetings. But at the end of the day, I had my own cubicle, e-mail address and telephone extension. At the very end of the summer, I was given the opportunity to spearhead a project and realized that the old adage is true, "you have to start somewhere." My experience on the Hill though, was quite different. My family joked that I had become an expert cuban coffee maker, because in fact, I started each day making Cuban coffee for the entire office. Not a complete waste of time though, because I realized how much I did not want to work in politics. And this past summer? I, again, did an unpaid internship, but this time for Clinton Global Initiative, one of the most prominant organizations in humanitarian efforts world-wide. But this time my intern experience was more comprehensive: I attended weekly 'Brown Bag' lunches, which provided speakers of all backgrounds to come in and talk to us about how they got where they are now. Without question, the icing on the cake and the metaphorical paycheck was having the opportunity to meet President Clinton, who is one of my personal heroes. In my eyes, this internship would provide me with the leverage (not to mention name association) to really take my job search full speed ahead.

In the April 2 edition of the New York Times, there is an article discussing the legitimacy and legality of unpaid internships in the for-profit environment. Now don't get me wrong--if I could have an paid internship with a non-profit I would be all of it. But many of them do not have the funds or capacity to compensate interns, and while they are not glorified volunteers, they are not monetarily rewarded for their work.

Officials in Orgeon, California and other states are filing claims that companies whom they believe are in violation of minimum wage laws. The Labor Department says that it is cracking down on firms that fail to pay interns accordingly. They maintain that a for-profit employer or a student seeking a for-profit internship should pay or be paid, respectively. More interestingly, The Department reports that many employers failed to pay interns even though their internship programs did not comply with the six federal legal criteria that must be met for internships to be unpaid. These include training that mirrors training given in an academic setting, the intern does not do work that regular employees should be doing and that the employer does not "derive immediate advantage" from an intern's work.

According to the Career Development Center at Stanford University, unpaid internship postings have nearly tripled in the last two years, fueling student desires to pursue unpaid opportunities. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, in 2008 nearly 50% of graduating students held internships, nearly tripled from the 17% who did in 1992.

And thus presents the Catch-22. Many jobs now require some sort of experience, yet the opportunities to get this experience are often saved for the elite. It is expensive and often times, an economic burden on a family to subsidize their child's expenses in another city. Many families rely on the supplemental income a summer job provides, or in other cases, the student serves as their own economic support.

What is important to remember is that internships--paid or unpaid--serve as a valuable teaching tool and stepping stone into the "real world". During my undergraduate career, I was ok with "working" 9-5, commuting in the morning and staying after if need be. In my eyes, I was earning my keep---keep that would come in the forms of letters of recommendations, a pathway to more prestigious internships and now, hopefully a job.

While there is speculation as to the fairness of unpaid internships, it is also important to remember that without them, you may never find out what your true passion is, what kinds of work environments you hate and what paths you may want to pursue.

For the full article, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/business/03intern.html