Examining The Entry Level Intern

Every Sunday Gothamist opens up and lets our friends and readers express themselves in opinion pieces, in this case the views shared are those of one Phoebe Maltz.

What are interns? I've been an intern, but never an unpaid one, although I could imagine circumstances that would make taking such a position seem reasonable. The justification for an internship being unpaid is that the position is an educational experience for the intern; the transfer of goods is from the organization to the intern. While both a paid internship and a traditional job also serve as learning experiences for the employee, an unpaid internship ought to differ from these other situations in that the help provided by the intern to the organization is negligible. Which is what makes this ad so odd. How could an unpaid intern be "needed ASAP"? Here's a clue: "Duties include filing, setting up new filing system, creating and editing org charts, updating 401Ks and other files, assist Human Resources Director in all duties, etc." In other words, a job, a rather dull-sounding one at that, but with the special quality of not paying anything at all.   This is just wrong.

I did plenty of filing--along with its cousin, book-shelving--during college, and the primary motivation to keep moving during a day of that sort of work is that, every two weeks or whatever, you will have money. You will also learn about the organization you’re working for, make contacts with those who do something other than file, help an organization whose mission you have some affinity for, but more importantly, you’ll learn what it’s like to work. You will experience that unique situation in which you are forced to do things you don’t feel like, to take everything from criticism to crap with a smile, when in all other conditions you’d respond indignantly, simply because your paycheck depends on it. Not all jobs require the taking of crap, but this is nevertheless a lesson worth learning, as a good number of them do.

The unpaid internship has expanded to encompass all manner of jobs formerly known as “secretary” or, more recently, “administrative assistant.” Don’t have much work experience? Want a foot in the door? A new, lower, yet somehow more respectable level of labor has been created just for you. Also important to note—the unpaid internship is not merely a summer-long or part-time position for a student who may not be expected to be bringing in much in the way of income—unpaid internships also exist for college graduates, including Harper’s Magazine, where college and post-college interns “work on a full-time, unpaid basis for three to five months.” (For what it’s worth, I’ve never applied to Harper’s, thus my comfort in using this magazine as an example).

The problem with unpaid internships is many-fold, but aside from the obvious—they screw over those who cannot afford to take them—their presence has warped the mentality of recent graduates. It now seems almost greedy to expect compensation, any compensation, for work. Not just non-profit work, but any work with even the slightest potential to be interesting, or to lead somewhere, or in a pleasant location, or… anything, really, that doesn’t involve a McDonalds uniform.

Postings inform the job-seeker that, while such and such position is unpaid, it provides a meaningful this that and the other, as though, if the employer were so crass as to make this a paid position, there must be something unpleasant about the position itself. And there may well be something unpleasant about the position itself—filing, anyone?—but if it is unpaid, the implication is that there must be some other, inherent value to the thing. By offering unpaid internships to post-college adults, organizations put it into the heads of people who are fully old enough to support themselves and arguably too old to rely on parental support that those who would choose paid work over an unpaid internship are only in it for the money.

Completion of an unpaid internship, unlike going back to school and earning a universally-acknowledged degree, is a less-than-certain way to increase future employability. That’s the difference between education and employment—the uncertainty inherent in what having any given job may mean for your resume is offset by the fact that, for the duration of your employment, you are compensated monetarily.

So, why are otherwise reasonable young adults in New York and beyond going along with this system? To put it bluntly, “intern” sounds better—i.e. more respectably upper-middle-class—than “secretary.” One would imagine that employee productivity is higher among the paid than the unpaid, but it may be that recent graduates find it more prestigious to put “intern” on their resumes than “administrative assistant,” and therefore will file and Xerox with more zeal if unpaid than if paid.

The extension of childhood—already a well-documented phenomenon—is in conflict with the rather natural, adult impulse to find a job. This conflict is reconciled by the existence of the unpaid internship. And so even those 20-somethings who would never think to ask their parents to fund a post-collegiate year exploring the world will reconcile themselves to the idea that continued parental support may be required even for those who spend Monday to Friday in an office.

You can find more of Phoebe Maltz's musings at What Would Phoebe Do?.
Office Cubicle by jpchan via Contribute.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Garth Johnston in Miscellaneous on May 21, 2006 12:58 PM

Comments [rss]

JessieB

I was a two-time victim of the post-collegiate unpaid internship. After I graduated college i moved down to NY with no clue as to a career path, and ended up as an unpaid intern for a non-profit documentary production company. 3 months later I ended the internship because there was no visible end in sight and I spent most of my time waiting for someone to delegate me any sort of responsibility, which barely happened.

2 months later, after being rejected from paying jobs for lack of internships or "industry experience", I ended up having to intern for free again at a production company that makes shows for the food network. The job experience the second time around was well worth it, but I worked 30 hours a week interning and 30 hours bartending between sleeping and commuting just to live in the city and maintain the internship.

4 months later, after promises of job placement and advancement, I also had to leave the internship because it was clear they had no intention of helping me more forward.

The TV internship did eventually lead to freelance work for me, but the progression from college to intern/make a living somehow to partially-paid employee is unfair and abusive in a lot of ways. I now own a business in Boston, and refuse to use post-collegiate interns for full time positions. I do use adults as volunteers for a day or two a week in exchange for them gaining relevant experience and learning a skill set (I run an edible gardening business and we have volunteers who work one day a week to learn how to garden), and also have college students intern over the summer, but typically hire them from colleges that will pay for students to intern(specifically Smith College.)

I think interning is an important was to gain experience as a COLLEGE STUDENT, when you have the means to work for free and you can begin to establish career choices and advance you skills before entering the workforce. Even as a college student though, It should not be considered normal to use free labor.

Lauren Berger

In 2008, over 70 percent of college graduates had internship experience on their resume (NACE). Internships are practically mandatory for college students. One of the first questions an employer asks in an interview is, "Where have you interned ?" "Tell me about your previous internship experience".

That being said, employers need to step up and be aware of their internship programs. The subject of "intern abuse" is all over the place. Employers need to start a conversation in their offices about their internship programs. CEOs should be aware of what there interns do on a daily basis.

Thanks for writing about the subject of internships ! Keep the internship articles coming ! We need to raise awareness.

Lauren Berger

CEO

Intern Queen Inc

http://www.internqueen.com

John

[url=][/url]

oldtimer

I miss the guild system.

Jack

Ditto with peakguy. My first full-time job out of college was an an editorial assistant. This was back in 1992. Nowadays, the majority of the work I did would be relegated to an un-paid intern. And to make things worse, the only people in NYC who can truly survive on unpaid internships are those who have trust-funds--or some other source of income--behind them.

At one point in my life I looked back on that first job and really hated it. But nowadays IU'm at least gateful that I got paid a salary that allowed me to rent out a small studio and start a life.

I really have no clue how anyone expects anyone to suruve or have a career in this city by simply not paying them.

you get what you pay for

"The selected intern MUST sign a confidentiality agreement."

BWA-HAHAHAHAA! Not to mention the irony of interning for a human resources dept in the first place. I think Phoebe should reply and do a follow-up with the name of the comany! This is comparable to the fat, middle-aged, balding man who places a personal ad for a hot, size 0 young woman.

If a professional is taking time out of the work day to teach you a specialized skill that others may have to learn through schooling, I think an internship is a fair trade. If the duties are menial, but a high school person wants to learn the ropes during summer vacation, this could also be a good arrangement (free perks would sweeten this deal). But as far as simply the privilege of "having your foot in the door" of a "prestigious" organization? Fuck that. Even if you do last, do you really want to work around a staff with the kinds of backgrounds that would enable someone to work for free, let alone for people who think this is perfectly acceptable?

rev pays

I agree with peakguy above.

All the interns from my old job all attended private or boarding school and came from suburbia.

peakguy

The absolutely most frustrating part of the unpaid intership phenomenom is that the children of wealthy families can develop super-duper resumes fully subsidized for a whole Summer of rent, food and partying in NYC, DC, Boston or wherever by their parents. This further increases the divide between the upper class and the working class in the quest for first jobs in political areas especially. How can we expect a government that understands the needs of all income classes if the only people that can staff the office of an elected official nearly have to have parents that can shell out $2000-4000 a month to get them into an unpaid intership?