"Unpaid internships have been around for decades in all kinds of industries,'' Anonymous@10:01 p.m. says in a comment. "I would say the value of what you can learn -- if you wind up working for good people who view you as more than a lackey -- is well worth the effort, and much better than spending your summer working at Foot Locker."
Still, employers face more scrutiny from federal and state regulators this summer. The New York Times reported early last month that the U.S. Labor Department is cracking down on firms that fail to pay interns properly. Investigators found many employers "failed to pay, even though their internships did not comply with the six federal legal criteria that must be satisfied for internships to be unpaid," the NYT said.
The story continues: "Among those criteria are that the internship should be similar to the training given in a vocational school or academic institution, that the intern does not displace regular paid workers and that the employer 'derives no immediate advantage' from the intern’s activities -- in other words, it’s largely a benevolent contribution to the intern."
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All unpaid internships are required to count for school credit, with paperwork provided by their respective schools. There are no 40-year old interns running around just hoping to get their foot in the door, unless they are in school.
ReplyDeleteWhen I worked at a Gannett TV station, I was told that the Gannett intern policy is "Interns may not create anything that airs on TV (or web), or write anything that appears in the paper (or web)." Is that still true, I wonder?
ReplyDeleteI trust there are no unpaid internships at Gannett newspapers then, because unpaid newspaper internships are bullsh*t.
ReplyDeleteJust a cheap company doing what it does. These interns, if they are paying attention, should see just what sort of industry they are thinking about getting into.
ReplyDeleteCollege students: If you're going to work for nothing but class credit, you'd might as well do it for a company or venture that has a compelling Web strategy, proven creativity and enlightened managers and co-workers. Gannett is full of has beens, never wases, and never will bes, not to mention exploitative, backstabbing petty tyrants who take credit for your work, thereby buying themselves another ounce of job security.
ReplyDelete11:37 a.m. - couldn't have said it any better. I hope some interns see the light and get the hell out of a profession that is sure to be non-existent within the next couple of years.
ReplyDeleteWithout unpaid internships many college students would not get the practical experience they need to hit the ground running when they enter the workforce. This gives them an opportunity they would otherwise not have. I have no problem with someone paying their dues to get the experience that they need.
ReplyDelete8:08 p.m. - true. However, in a dying print industry? Internet, radio, TV, online? No problem, but print? Everybody knows that these are students that fill vacant workplaces. It sure is free labor at it's finest and utilized full steam ahead. Furthermore, the workforce as you describe it is a far cry from a few years ago. It's mighty tight out there after Gannett and other companies laid off so many people. Wouldn't it be better to do an internship that has future prospects? PointRoll vs. Newspaper Advertising just a recent example how the industry backpaddles.
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