Tuesday
Aug102010
Is Your Summer Internship Ethical?
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 by Chris Lesinski
Tuesday, August 10, 2010Okay, so, Tory Johnson's show doesn't look like it's trying to appeal to college students... but her guest, Bruce Weinstein aka "The Ethics Guy" (wha?), has a few practical dos and don'ts that might help put your summer internship opportunity into perspective. Or maybe you can passive-aggressively post a link to this on your Twitter account and hope the boss notices...
We've said it before -- and I still believe that even if an employer is following the quid pro quo guidelines -- there's something unethical about making someone work for free. Minimum wage is a smalle price to pay for rock-solid ethics.
Tell us what you think: what does it take for you to work for free?
Reader Comments (15)
I just recently finished an unpaid internship that went very nicely. With the job market being so bad, I went ahead and signed up to do some work on a website under development for a non-profit organization. All the work was from my home computer, with one face to face meeting at the start to kick things off and make sure we were on the same page. As my 'payment' I got a reference for job applications and was invited to their annual awards event. The best part is, at the end of my internship, they offered to pay me to stay on and teach people how to use the new features on the site. If you can get an unpaid internship and it seems like there's a way it'll benefit you, then I'd say go for it.
The thing that bugs me about the "unpaid internships are evil" thing is that no one offers alternatives! Sure, there are paid internships, but according to basic economics, the number of businesses who will offer them will decrease. Internships are competitive as it is, and unemployment doesn't need to go any higher. Just my 2 cents.
Thank you for posting my interview here.
Thank you for posting my interview with Tory Johnson on ABC News.
Thank you for posting my interview with Tory Johnson on ABC News.com.
I knew a student (one of many) who worked for free for my university during the summer. The program worked like this: the uni gets the smartest and best grad and undergrad engineer students together and has them work on a planning project for the university, working really hard with long hours, and all for free. The university got their work done by students for free! Great, huh?
The situation you describe isn't ethical, but it doesn't follow from this that ALL unpaid internships are unethical. I explain what constitutes an ethical unpaid internship my Bloomberg BusinessWeek.com column, "The Do's and Don't's of Unpaid Internships." Read it here:
http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/may2010/ca20100526_469308.htm
P.S. I'm assuming in the situation that jdolson describes that the students who worked for free did not get any sort of benefit from the university, such as college credit or experiences that would be valuable in some way in their future careers. If there were such benefits, those unpaid internships may have indeed been ethical.
What would it take for me to work for free? I would have to be rich already...or have a sugar daddy. My time has to be used to make money, or I'll starve.
Thanks for chiming in, Bruce!
From my perspective, a voluntary relationship between employer and employee cannot be unethical by definition.
As a graduate instructor, I have found that 'unpaid internships' are to a degree unethical for the following reasons. I teach a library science and information studies studies course where graduate students are studying to become professional librarians (academic, public, music, law etc) Throughout any given semester, a corporation, agency, library will offer internships that on their face and paper, look authentic in the sense that the 'internee' will gain the required experience that fits their career goals. My query is this: with the kind of staffing that the said agency or whatever has, why could they not have one of their paid employees do the same task? If this is a new project, why not give the added incentive of a salary-even small to enhance the experience? If there is a "connect" with the current economic conundrum, then these same agencies are keenly aware that some graduate students are unemployed.
Example: Last semester I hired a graduating student in the Library Science program who was about to receive his and her degree. It was a one semester gig, that exposed them to what it is like working in an academic library in an urban community college environment. While they were hired in a lower-level capacity, the knowledge and experience they gain in a real-life environment was immense. The real-life experience was that they were not only paid but received the benefits of working for a city agency that gave them the requisite benefits (health, dental, etc.)
Let me use my son as another example whose undergrad/grad major was information technology with a business background. He was hired a unpaid intern to one of New York City's major hospitals. It was unpaid and he was required to come in two days during the week during the course of his final year as an undergraduate. During the Christmas holidays, what they did was hire him pro-temp where he was paid because many of the other people were away during the holidays and or on vacation. It worked out so well that he was given a permanent position when he completed his degree. The experience he gained through this kind of entrepreneurial experience was immense. They appreciated the fact that he was willing, capable, and available. The reward: a full-time position that gave him more experience in his profession as well as the required experience needed to advance in today's uncertain job market. The end result: While I am a tenured faculty member with over 17 years of teaching in an academic environment, I can say that my son makes more money than I do today, based on his early experience doing internships. Let me state that it not about the money but the experience we all have to gain in order to become viable in our respective fields. More importantly, to pass that information on to the next fledgling to make for a better work experience.
Paid internships, if thoughtfully prepared will enhance the job market for many people. Unfortunately, it is not necessarily what you know, but who- and that's another issue for another day.
If you are just doing an internship for the money, then it will feel like all you are doing is flipping burgers all summer long.
There will be no passion for your job beyond your paycheck, and let's be honest, there are easier ways to make money than being somebody's bitch all summer long.
The point of an internship is not to support you financially, but to expose you to the real world. It is the jump into the ice bath of life that gives you an edge on all the other guys. Internships aren't supposed to make you wealthy.
The intangible riches you gain are enormous though. You could work along groundbreaking scientists and visionary captains of industry. Would you ask for a paycheck if you had a chance to study economics with Mankiw? What about if you could have worked for even a week with Einstein? If Warren Buffett came calling for a few unpaid months of work, then a thousand MBA's across the nation would be plotting about how to kill you in your sleep and impersonate you.
I would rather work for free in a internship under people who were changing the world, than get paid to try and suffer through the typical paid internship. Life changing experiences are more important than money could ever be. That is the set of ethics that should be first and foremost in your mind when you are evaluating whether or not you should take a internship.
Who cares about money?
As a recent graduate I am finding unpaid internships quite rewarding in terms of the work itself and the benefit to my CV. I'm working entirely for development and environmental NGOs working on projects that could have real impacts on issues that I care about. Although i'd obviously prefer to have some money coming in, I still count myself lucky to be gaining the experience.
Unpaid interships are a social justice issue. I met interns working in the US Senate doing tours. Not only were they not getting paid but their parents were paying to house them for the summer. Most students cannot afford to live away from home and spend their working hours volunteering. Only the richest students can afford this. So it will be the richest students who have the best resume at graduation. Unpaid internships are elitist.
Un-paid internships are not the same as shadowing. For instance to get into veternary medicine an undergrad student needs a certain amount of hours watching a vet perform his/her job. The undergrad is not qualified to do anything and therefore should not get paid. The student is just following and watching.
Volunteering, like Liz did above for a non-profit is also different.
Un-paid interships are not volunteering. If a company needs work done than they need to find a way to pay for it. Honest pay for honest work. Intangibles are not honest pay.