Opinion on the value of unpaid summer internships for college students.

I am wondering about the value of unpaid summer internships. In this world of so many businesses and individual wanting content for their websites, I am learning that many of the internships being offered, especially the virtual internships, seem to be a way for businesses and individuals to get writing for free. Am I being overly cynical?

So if we assume that perhaps these businesses and individuals are getting free work, how valuable is it to the student who is doing the work? Good for a writing portfolio? 

In our case, the student is interested in law school, and there are law offices offering virtual writing work to market their services. This doesn't seem to me to be of any value in getting into law school.

Thoughts?

No.  Internships should be paid.  My daughter works at NBC and they were sued a few years ago for not paying their interns and now they and any reputable employer pays.

All that said, there are lots of great ways she can build her portfolio without being slave labor.  

Many colleges support summer internships at non- profit organizations for their students throughout social justice organizations.  This is the only instance I believe they are justified. The proliferation of unpaid internships disadvantages less affluent students who cannot afford to not get paid for summer work.  

lisat said:

I am wondering about the value of unpaid summer internships. In this world of so many businesses and individual wanting content for their websites, I am learning that many of the internships being offered, especially the virtual internships, seem to be a way for businesses and individuals to get writing for free. Am I being overly cynical?

So if we assume that perhaps these businesses and individuals are getting free work, how valuable is it to the student who is doing the work? Good for a writing portfolio? 

In our case, the student is interested in law school, and there are law offices offering virtual writing work to market their services. This doesn't seem to me to be of any value in getting into law school.

Thoughts?

Of more value for law school would be volunteering in a district office of a local politician.

I generally agree that employers should offer compensation, but I don't agree that unpaid internships are on the whole worthless. If by doing writing for a law firm, a student finds potential mentors and learns a little bit about how a law firm works, or gets some exposure to an area of law he/she wasn't aware of, there's some value in that. And if the experience shows the student that perhaps being a lawyer doesn't meet his or her expectations, and the student decides to pursue something else, there's value in that too. Many people apply to professional schools without a true sense of how those professions actually work.

What is unfair about unpaid internships is that they generally are filled by people from relatively affluent families who can subsidize the student during the internship, so it's a closed door to a lot of deserving students.

seems more like a "marketing role as an internship vs law"  as you describe the role as  virtual writing work to market their services

my son is in law school and did several unpaid but the tasks were directly related to tasks he would be doing as a lawyer including research, etc.  He did some writing for the firms blog which could be viewed as mktg content but he gained value in the research, opinion, etc side of the task

hope this helps 

thanks for your opinions and suggestions!

Not sure about graduate schools, but at the college level, a friend who has been an admissions officer at several west coast liberal arts colleges told me that those colleges placed more valuable on a paid job than an internship (paid or unpaid).  She explained that keeping a job (babysitting, waitressing, lifeguarding, etc.) showed that an applicant had reached a level of maturity and responsibility.  Applicants who were rehired summer after summer or who held a job for more than 6 months were especially valued.

As stated above, an internship that provides insight into a potential career is useful.  For college applicants, admissions officers sometimes felt that an internship suggested that "Mommy or Daddy convinced one of the friends to give me an internship".

And all interns should be paid!

very interesting indeed

he has had paid work for years but not related to law

Unpaid internships are illegal according to the DOL unless they are basically just shadowing someone.  You must pay them at least minimum wage if they are doing ANY work.  

http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.pdf

Most internships in the film/tv music world are unpaid.  There's many many young composers and very few opportunities.  Making new connections and possible IMDB credit is considered payment. 

composerjohn said:

Most internships in the film/tv music world are unpaid.  There's many many young composers and very few opportunities.  Making new connections and possible IMDB credit is considered payment. 

I wouldn't say "most".  The big networks, companies and opportunities are mostly paid.  NBC, CBS, ABC, HBO, and on and on.  Not only are they paid, but often they come with huge perks and even housing.

Some reading on the subject:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2014/01/16/why-your-unpaid-internship-makes-you-less-employable/#1019dd1c06ff

http://www.nywici.org/editorial/saying-goodbye-unpaid-internships

I'm talking about internships in the music world (i.e. composers, music houses, etc.).  Totally agree about the big networks and companies.  There's been some recent postings by high level composers looking for interns - no pay. 

(PS - I think ALL internships should be paid... I don't agree with the practice.)

Oh ok, because you said most internships in the tv/film/.music world are unpaid.

apple44 said:
What is unfair about unpaid internships is that they generally are filled by people from relatively affluent families who can subsidize the student during the internship, so it's a closed door to a lot of deserving students.

Absolutely...as an undergraduate, I felt a bit down on myself for having much less interesting summer jobs than many of my classmates.  What was wrong with me that I couldn't figure out how to get something as interesting?

Eventually I realized that many of those cool jobs were not only unpaid, but were also arranged by upper/ upper-middle-class parents with the sorts of connections that my parents didn't have.  My summers in food service were a reflection of my origins and my need for money.  My parents really couldn't afford to pay my part of the financial need in addition to thiers.  

(By the summer after junior year I did manage to get a low-paid internship at a national lab, and my parents were able to help a little, to make it work, so I still had that advantage over kids from even more constrained backgrounds)

When I interview candidates these days (I work at a company that does lots of engineering/software work) who have had unpaid internships, they either do a poor job communicating the experience they gained or the experience they gained seems fairly minimal.  Like other have mentioned, many unpaid interns seem to be given fairly menial tasks that aren't really related to what they're supposed to be learning about. 

apple44 said:
What is unfair about unpaid internships is that they generally are filled by people from relatively affluent families who can subsidize the student during the internship, so it's a closed door to a lot of deserving students.

What's worse is that lack of unpaid internship can sometimes be the thing that blocks young people from paid internships.  I was turned down for so many paid internships after freshman year because I had no prior experience, experience that was gained through unpaid internships.  So I ended up working at the DPW/repainting dorms etc and every year the interviews for any sort of internships became fewer and further between until I finished school. Other students who like me weren't able to take unpaid internships their freshman year also had similar experiences.  

When I was editing a trade journal for travel agents about 10 years ago, we offered unpaid internships for journalism students, but we printed their stories in the magazines with bylines, so they got some clips out of it for their portfolios. We also let them take one trip during their tenure with us, then write it up for publication. I am guessing they won't be able to get away with that any more.

Long time ago but when I was a student with an unpaid internship, the most expensive thing for me was transportation. The company made it clear that they would not pick up transportation and for those of us wanting those spots, we sucked it up. I think it would be nice for companies to pony up a minimal stipend to offset transportation for students. I took the subway and a commuter rail - not cheap for a kid with no job. 

My kid found a lawyer who will allow him to shadow some court visits, and also assist on a pro bono case. My kid will also look for a part-time paying summer job elsewhere, so I think we're set. Thanks for all the advice!