There comes a time in every college student’s life when the competitive job market becomes an ugly reality. A degree alone is typically not enough to get the job they need, and after all the time, effort and money they have put into their degree, they don’t want it to go to waste. Thus begins the internship hunt.
They’ll first apply to the ones that are paid before discovering the paid ones only go to the best, leading them to believe an unpaid internship is inevitable.
With endurance and dedication, they might get one. And for the unlucky ones, it’s 40 hours a week, 30 miles away and they have no car or financial support and they’re in school. But they take it anyway because they need more than a burger joint on their resume.
Our parents and teachers have told us many times that success is not easy. But if you’re one of these worst-case scenarios, success is only possible if you stop sleeping.
Monica Peralez, a junior, worked as an intern at Spin Media, an entertainment company in Hollywood. Her shifts were from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., four days a week. She used public transportation because she didn’t have a car, adding approximately five hours of travel time to her daily schedule. Luckily for her, she was able to live with her parents without major financial obligations. Nonetheless, the amount of time she put into the job goes to show what students are willing to do for a reference. Peralez said she thought the experience was worth it.
But how fair was it?
The students who can’t afford one unpaid internship end up overworking themselves into an exhausted, paranoid pile of stress, unable to improve half as much as they could if their internships were paying them. They’re led to believe the only other options are to take out more loans or stay at their minimum wage job. They’re set up for failure from the start.
Surely, companies like Spin Media that work with celebrities like the Kardashians can afford to pay their interns. So why aren’t they?
They take full advantage of the guidelines, which are not explicit enough to address these companies’ financial abilities. For example, Oregon’s guidelines say the internship must be benefiting the intern more than the employer.
It’s a blurry line that’s often crossed because of the interns’ willingness to do whatever it takes to get the reference.
The guidelines are understandable for startup companies or nonprofit organizations that don’t pay interns because they simply don’t have the means. Generally, these types of businesses are giving back to our community in some way, which makes for a win-win situation in most respects. But for all the others, the guidelines are not doing justice for students that essentially function as unpaid employees.
Take the Portland Timbers for example. The organization claims to stand by Oregon’s guidelines but ends up working its unpaid interns to the bone. In an interview with The Oregonian’s Steve Duin, Chelsea Robinson, former unpaid Timbers intern, discussed the unfair treatment she endured during her time there. At one point she was managing coaches who were being paid. When she complained, the Timbers fired her. She then went to the Bureau of Labor and Industries to get the payment she deserved, more than $2,000.
“The Timbers have a longstanding, successful internship program that has provided invaluable experiences for many people,” they said in reply. Well, the experience may have been invaluable, but that doesn’t mean it was fair. Robinson undoubtedly deserves a round of applause for her strong morals and self-respect.
If we want a chance at ending this ruthless cycle, people need to be more like her. Or the Portland Trail Blazers, a team that stayed true to their name four years ago when they started paying their interns. It’s a lot to ask of some students and businesses, but for those who can afford it, try putting fairness at the top of your priority list for once.
Follow Andrea Harvey on Twitter @andrearharvey