Lawsuits reveal nature of unpaid internships

Marisol Medina/Staff Writer

Earlier this year, a series of lawsuits by interns against their employers shone light on the issue of unpaid internships. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, an internship is defined as a learning experience integrating knowledge learned in class with practical skills learned in a professional setting. They add that an internship should “give students the opportunity to gain valuable applied experience and make connections in professional fields.”

NACE advises service professionals to monitor internships offered through the career center to ensure that they follow NACE guidelines. They discourage career centers from posting any internships that do not meet their criteria.

Matthew Tanner, associate director of Career Services, says his office screens every internship, whether paid or unpaid, to ensure that it is an environment where students will develop professionally and not be taken advantage of.

“We have individuals who will do research on the organization, the legality of the intended internship and make sure our employers know what are the standards set by the Department of Labor and the NACE,” said Tanner.

He recommended that students use the Career Services website to find a legitimate internship. Tanner also suggests students visit the Career Services office to participate in an internship workshop where one-on-one career advisement services are offered.

Tanner said students can benefit from “having a conversation about putting together personal and career goals, before that process begins, so that the internships they target are a good experience for them to move forward in their career.”

Sammer Odeh, a senior double major in finance and management, has done three internships since last spring with only one of them being paid.

Odeh found his first unpaid internship with Miami-Dade County through the College of Business’ Career Management website.

“That was my first experience working in general, aside from working with my family, and it was working for the government,” said Odeh, whose experience there led him to land a paid internship with Lowe’s Home Improvement over the summer.

“I was a store operations intern, but I was way more than that,” said Odeh, who was given the chance to visit Lowe’s corporate headquarters where he met executives and the chief executive officer of the company.

Odeh said during his time at Lowe’s he was paid a competitive salary “in the high teens,” working 40 hours a week in addition to the company paying flights, food and gas.

“I don’t think the first internship a person gets in college has to be paid,” said Odeh.

He said that to get paid internships students need to have experience and that experience is the unpaid internship.

Odeh said that he never felt overworked or entertained with busy-work during his unpaid internships and added that those internships propelled him to a higher level of working experience.

-news@fiusm.com