Young college grads must do everything possible to land a great job. Having an internship on your resume is a sure-fire way to stand out in a crowded field of talented individuals.
Unfortunately, many of the most desirable internships at prestigious companies come with a giant catch: They’re unpaid.
Discover how unpaid internships benefit the wealthy and why we must end the practice
How Unpaid Internships Give Priority To the Privileged
Unpaid internships are classist tools designed to filter poor students out of opportunities.
The lack of pay limits the applicant pool to only those who can afford to work for three months without a paycheck.
Recent college grads without wealthy parents must work for real money upon graduation. They can’t afford to give their all to a company for 40 hours a week without earning a paycheck; they need the money to live.
Rich kids whose parents pay rent and provide trust funds have no problem spending the equivalent of a semester networking with industry insiders for little to no pay.
These wealthy kids get the internships and make the most of them. The internship experience propels them to a career where they can earn 60K per year right out of the gate.
Internship Stipends
Some companies attempt to combat the lack of pay with a small stipend, which may or may not be near minimum wage and probably isn’t close to a living wage.
It’s better than nothing, but poor students can’t afford to live on the meager income.
Company Gatekeeping
Poor kids aren’t applying for internships; the most insidious part is that the companies know it.
They know the game. They know who’s applying and will only hire people who have completed internships for their most prestigious positions.
Keeping the internship unpaid is the perfect way to keep the “undesirables” out. Companies have an ideal, legitimate-looking legal reason for hiring Blane, who happens to be the son of the CEO’s best friend, over Xavier, who couldn’t even be bothered to apply for an internship.
And what recourse does Xavier have? He didn’t do the internship. He couldn’t; he had to find a way to pay his bills after college.
Benefits of Unpaid Internships
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The privileged will scoff at the suggestion that unpaid internships give them a leg up, instead touting the many benefits of the program.
Interns earn valuable work experience. They get to network and rub shoulders with company insiders, learning their trade and how the real world works.
Companies don’t have to take a risk on hiring an unknown. The short-term nature of the internship has a dedicated end date in case things don’t work out, and they don’t have to invest money in salary or benefits. They also get to train potential future employees.
It’s a win-win.
If the intern can afford to live for 3-6 months while working for free.
How To Change Unpaid Internships
The best way to even the playing field is to end the practice of unpaid internships altogether. If you want someone to do a job, you should pay them – full stop. Anyone who works any job, even in some type of on-the-job training program, deserves a salary.
Apprentices in trades get salaries. Student teachers get salaries. Soldiers in basic training get salaries.
So why don’t interns?
Make Internships a Part of School
Another option is to include a semester-long internship as a graduation requirement and allow students to take out loans to cover their living expenses during this period. The internship should replace a semester rather than add to one to reduce the already massive student loan burden.
The loan option isn’t ideal, as it still benefits rich kids over poor kids. Rich kids don’t have to take out loans, while poor students get saddled with even more debt. However, it’s better than expecting a kid from a poor family to work for free for 6 months.
End the Practice Altogether
The best practice is to end unpaid internships altogether. Why do we insist on giving companies free labor? If they want someone to learn the business and move up the ranks, they should pay them for it.
Companies can still offer internship positions to limit their risk. A six-month paid internship still gives companies the ability to train potential employees while giving them an out if the person doesn’t work out.
The intern would still reap all the benefits, with the bonus that poor students can afford to live while working in these positions.
Level the Playing Field
Our society needs to level the playing field so that the haves and have-nots all have equal chances of success. Unpaid internships are just one small way the wealthy get an advantage over the poor, but examples abound (like student loans, the high cost of education, and alumni preference, to name a few).
We need to find solutions that level the playing field and make America the meritocracy we all pretend it is, but for real.