Internship employers and colleges have a seriously broken relationship. I’ve been interning unpaid for about two years straight now. If an employer gives college credit, they technically don’t need to pay. But BU only lets you take one internship for credit. So if you want more than one internship before you graduate, you end up working for free because many employers say, “The internship is unpaid, but we’ll give you course credit if you want.” I’ve had to turn that offer down because my school won’t allow me to get credit. Free labor has become an expectation for college students. That’s a shame.
I do think there are ways of navigating around the unpaid issue. My internship at TalentCulture doesn’t pay me cash, but I’m getting career training and development services, and I’m being set up for job interviews in addition to getting college credit.
Employers need to do more to reimburse interns, even if it’s not in cash.
Other feedback (These people are not nerds…) :
I think you and Rachel are saying similar things and I agree with both of you. I think internships are great for gaining experience and making connections, but you have to be very savvy about when and where you take an unpaid, not for credit internship. Getting paid or credit is ideal, but when those options go out the window your choice is a paid job, maybe not in your field, or an unpaid internship that can give you great experience. I really think that unpaid internships that take advantage of students and use them as “free labor” should be dealt with by the intern and that there should be set boundaries for an unpaid internship. I don’t think it is necessary for the governent to get involved, but this is purely based on my own experience and understanding.
p.s. I can’t watch your video right now because I don’t have sound on this computer, so my response is only to what you wrote.
Hello there,
Found this through Twitter while looking over info from last night’s MIN conference (I was there presenting with Nine Technology, sorry I didn’t get to talk to you!). I know the feeling you’re talking about, but I suppose I went through a rather different experience. I went to Northeastern, where the co-op program offered us the 6-month internships, but they were paid. Not always a heck of a lot, but they were paid.
But it was the connections that paid off more – I had two co-ops with the Boston Globe, and through those I got into a regular shift working at the City Desk, and through that I got into answering phones (you do whatever it takes), and through that I got into covering four towns of my own for one of the regional editions.
I suppose I don’t really have anything to add that you don’t already know; stay in touch with the people you worked with, offer to help them on a project they’re working on, make a suggestion for a tactic they might not have explored, etc. Don’t ask for a job outright, but keep your name in their field of vision. By keeping my name (and face) in the Globe’s field of vision, I was able to parlay earlier co-ops into a regular gig covering some towns, which is pretty good for a fresh-out-of-college kid.
The internship, as a result, can be even more valuable than the paying gig.
Adam
Hi Adam, thanks for the comment! Maybe we’ll meet up at a future MIN.
I definitely don’t think cash is the only answer. Those connections you talk about are definitely worth it.