If you’re thinking about leaving college without doing a couple of internships, don’t. You will be at a huge disadvantage if you emerge into the post-grad world without work experience.
But it’s also not enough simply to do a few internships. You also need to be impressive during your time there.
Over at U.S. News & World Report today, I offer 10 tips for getting the most out of your internship. Check it out here.
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One doesn’t need internships to leave college with work experience. Personally, I could not afford any internships – but I found that the experience of working through school was a big plus when I graduated. Now that I make hiring decisions that is a quality I look for first.
Anonymous: Internships are often paid! And if they’re not, the chances are good that they’re illegal anyway. Work experience of any kind is good, sure, and I’m sure that just a job with the same sort of experiences as an intership will work just as well. Though its worth noting that most jobs through school will be work-study, and employers increasingly know this, and in my experience you don’t have to really do anything or have any qualifications to get a work-study. Still definitely better than nothing, but a job outside your school signals you had to compete to get it.
I’d have to disagree that internships are often paid. Many of them are specifically for college credit only. Maybe they were when times were good, but now many are not. The student has to pay for the credits to earn rather than get a stipend through the company of internship.
I don’t know what exactly would be illegal, but if you think so, then they are getting away with a lot.
Work-study is usually for those who need help paying their college tuition. To some degree, on the graduate level, an assistantship is the same. A student can work for a department on campus, and in turn, the department pays for so many credits.
I’m not totally sure on the rules for providing college credit, but I do know that an internship has to pretty much be a burden on the employer (a position created almost totally for the benefit of the intern) in order for it to be legally unpaid.
The six qualities that have to be met: http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/attach/TEGL/TEGL12-09acc.pdf
(Page 8 has what you’re looking for).
Not sure about the credits thing, but wage rules are pretty clear.
It’s true that the Department of Labor requires that unpaid work be primarily for the benefit of the volunteer, not the employer. And if it’s not, they can reclassify you as an employee and require the employer to pay back wages for all the work you did. (There’s one huge exception to this — nonprofits, which can have all the unpaid workers they want.)
However, in reality, companies are violating this law all over the place; unpaid internships are very common, and most people don’t even know about this law. (Although the Department of Labor is supposedly cracking down on it.)
Truth. At my school, all the shiniest internships go to kids whose parents can afford to pay all their expenses for them. Companies have no incentive to level the playing field (by paying, or helping with housing, etc.) because they’ve already got hundreds of smart kids who can afford it banging down the doors for internships.
Then when we’re all out looking for jobs, my resume with my grocery store cashiering and working in the copy center will look frankly stupid next to someone who had 2 internships at Fortune 500 companies.
Also, Kimberlee, show me the college student who’s really willing to start a DOL complaint or a lawsuit at the place where they’re supposed to be getting their first work experience in their field!
I find your comments interesting and was wondering if you can comment further – either here or in a new post. You wrote: “It’s true that the Department of Labor requires that unpaid work be primarily for the benefit of the volunteer, not the employer.” How can that be assessed?
Kimberlee – The guidelines you linked fit my past internship well. I cannot complain there. Furthermore, the place where I had my internship had an internship program, and supervisors were hired specifically to oversee the interns. I do not believe it burdened the company. But, I did it for college credit, even though I could’ve been paid for it. So how would that fit in where I could have been paid for what I was receiving credits for instead?
College credit is usually set up through the school, and a professor works with the student to get the most out of the experience – that can include further work on top of working at the office or site of internship.
And let’s face it, the stipends these internships pay don’t amount to much. So even if we are getting paid at these internships, it’s more than likely less than minimum wage.
I’d prefer to see outside employment rather than internships – but that is just me.
As an intern, you would have to be given some type of job responsibilities. Wouldn’t any type of responsibility benefit the employer regardless of how menial the task the intern is doing?Wouldn’t this always violate DOL standards that the employer cannot benefit?
Their rule is that the *net* benefit has to be the worker, but not the only benefit. So the company can benefit, but the worker has to be getting *more* out of it than the company does. So, for instance, an internship that was very heavy on training might qualify.
Some of the criteria are:
* The internship is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment.
* The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern
* The intern does not displace regular employees but instead works under close supervision of existing staff
* The employer providing the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion, its operations may actually be impeded.
Here’s an article that may help explain further:
http://www.wagehourblog.com/2010/04/articles/dol-enforcement/dol-provides-guidance-for-unpaid-internship-programs-under-the-flsa-for-forprofit-employers/
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