Should I take that unpaid internship?

Typical career advice to someone breaking into international development is to start with an internship. Internships are great for building experience and connections and sometimes can lead to a job down the line. And if you are lucky, you sometimes also get paid. But is getting paid for an internship a good thing? Of course, you may say. Who wouldn’t want to get paid? And frankly, not many people are in the financial position to work for free. But the issue of paid vs. unpaid internships can be a bit more complicated than that. In New York, a U.S. federal court recently ruled against Fox Searchlight in a case brought forth by two former interns who claim they should have been paid for the menial work they did as part of an unpaid “internship.” According to U.S. law and Department of Labor standards, an intern may not be paid if the internship meets the following conditions: 1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment. 2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern. 3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff. 4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded. 5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship. 6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship. In the case of these two interns, fetching coffee, janitorial work and moving furniture did not pass the litmus test for items 1, 2 and 4. Many observers wonder whether this ruling spells the beginning of the end of unpaid internships in the United States. That could be good news for aspiring development workers who cannot afford to work for free while paying back student loans and living in typically high-cost areas like New York or the District of Columbia. But it could also mean groups which aren’t in a position to pay interns will end their programs rather than risk a potential court case. So it could mean fewer internships overall. Nonprofits and government agencies typically have leeway under the U.S. law to hire unpaid workers without adhering to the above conditions. And of course the court case doesn’t impact organizations outside of the United States. But I think it helps illustrate the philosophical differences between paid and unpaid internships among employers. Employers often make a conscience decision to pay or not pay interns based on criteria beyond whether or not there is money in the budget. Even when not legally required, one of the reasons some employers pay their interns is so they can feel better about assigning more mundane tasks like fetching coffee, filing or making copies. Some employers also notice that when they pay their interns, they are more likely to show up on time and treat the opportunity like a real job. It’s not uncommon for an unpaid intern to show up late, spend the day playing on the Internet or jump ship as soon as a paid opportunity presents itself, especially when their duties are fairly administrative. However, many organizations — particularly cost-conscience groups working in international development — just cannot afford to pay an intern. And so in lieu, they understand they need to provide real substantive work to someone who is showing up for free every day. Some groups choose to invest in building enriching internship programs rather than pay a wage or stipend. So the result is unpaid internships which often provide more training and experience than paid programs. Employers can differ vastly in their motivation to hire interns. Some do not want to bother with it, neither having the budget nor the bandwidth to come up with substantive work for an intern that can divert from other organizational priorities. (See “on occasion its operations may actually be impeded” as a criteria in number 4.) Some see interns as cheap labor. And some are looking to groom future leaders in international development, whether within their organization or beyond. When you are considering internships, ask questions about why their organization hires interns and what they hope to get out of it. What kind of training do they provide? If your goal is to get substantive work experience in your chosen field, then paid may not always mean better. If you are able to swing it financially, you may be better off in the long run taking a more meaningful unpaid gig. And of course, if you can find an internship that provides both a wage and substantive work experience, then you may just have hit the internship jackpot. What has been your experience in paid or unpaid internships? Do you think employers should be required to pay interns even if it means less opportunities and less substantive work? What are you looking to get out of an internship? Please leave your comments below. Have any tips for our members on getting that first job in the field? Please leave them as comments below. Tweet me your career questions at @DevexCareers — your question may just be the focus of an upcoming Career Matters blog post. You can also subscribe to my video blog on YouTube.