Internships illegal according to the NY Times?

New York Times Article: "The Unpaid Intern, Legal or Not"

Lately, the legality of unpaid internships is being discussed in the news.It's common knowledge that employers expect students to have completed more than one internship before graduation. The National Association of Colleges and Employers survey found that 50 percent of graduating students had participated in internships.Yet, state and federal government are now looking at certain legal criteria that must be satisfied for internships to be unpaid.

The bottom line is, "Is the internship educational?" When I talk to a potential internship mentor, the first question I ask is "What type of projects and activities would our student be involved with?" The experiences must be meaningful and educational or I would never place a student there. Both the student and mentor should benefit equally.The article mentions Trudy Steinfeld, director of N.Y.U.’s Office of Career Services, who said she increasingly had to ride herd on employers to make sure their unpaid internships were educational.

The interns in our program would never experience what this article describes:

"One Ivy League student said she spent an unpaid three-month internship at a magazine packaging and shipping 20 or 40 apparel samples a day back to fashion houses that had provided them for photo shoots. In a second case, a N.Y.U. student who hoped to work in animation at a Manhattan children’s film company was assigned to the facilities department and ordered to wipe the door handles each day to minimize the spread of swine flu. If that happened in our program, I would pull the intern out immediately and arrange for a different placement!

Personally, I have seen so many benefits for our students. A high school internship leads to a more prestigious one in college which leads to a meaningful job after graduation.Internships — paid or unpaid — serve as valuable steppingstones that help young people land future jobs. "Internships have become the gateway into the white-collar work force,” said Ross Perlin, a Stanford graduate and onetime unpaid intern who is writing a book on the subject.

As always, the deciding factor must be, "Is the internship educational?" which of course, is core of our Internship Connection program.

-Dr.Internship

Internships: Enjoy the Unexpected

I just had an interesting conversation with a parent that I wanted to share. Sometimes the best part of an internship is what happens "between the lines." When high school students and their parents are so hyper-focused on achieving an internship placement limited to a very narrow career choice, they may be missing the point. Students benefit from all aspects of an internship.

While on a college internship in production at MTV, my own son, when filing the contracts of the VJ's (yes, that dreaded activity) he realized that he wanted to become the lawyer who drew up those contracts- hence his current career as a corporate lawyer in NYC.

Another son, while in high school, interned at a science start-up in Boston. He was fortunate to participate in many science-related activities, but what he found most interesting was learning about the VC firm that provided their initial round of funding- hence his current career in venture capital.

So, my advice is to be open to all types of internships- interning at a non-profit cooking program for inner-city kids may peak your interest in culinary, social work, marketing or fund raising. Expect the unexpected and run with it!

-Dr. Internship

Resume Tips for High School Students

Often the high school students we meet wonder if they have enough experience to list on a resume. The answer is yes! Activities outside of school that show responsibility may include mowing lawns, baby sitting, delivering newspapers, life guarding, camp CIT, etc. Activities in school may be newspaper staff, band member, a school trip to to Washington, D.C., Model UN, debate, etc.

Many of the students in our program have volunteer experience at a soup kitchen or at the Special Olympics, have participated in walks for charity, or delivered meals to the elderly. The best way way to describe these experiences is to use action verbs and "resume language". If you were a lifeguard at the Dedham Racket Club, you might say: Responsible for monitoring pool area for violations and potential hazardous situations, maintaining pool and recreation areas, and teaching swimming classes.

Students tell us that once they have their resume, they simply add new experiences. More tips to come!

-Dr. Internship

Internships for College Graduates

Lately, I 've been contacted by graduates from prestigious colleges who haven't been able to secure a job related to their college major. Well let me emphasize this; there is no shame, for in this economy, many of you are in the same boat. An internship after college, paid or unpaid, gives you career exposure, builds your resume and provides valuable networking contacts that often lead to a job.

Recently I placed an Ivy League English major on a prestigious government internship where she is using her writing talents, communicating to constituents. I connected a RISD furniture design major to a set design company for theater and trade shows. We brainstormed together and thought about different career fields that would make use of their talents and skills. A little tweaking of their resumes and voila- they were off in a new career direction. All it took was a little "out of the box" thinking.

-Dr. Internship

Spring Break in Acapulco vs. Interviewing for your Summer Internship

A no-brainer you say? Well let's see college students. Maybe you can do both. It takes quite a bit of planning, but here's how our current students are making it happen. We started taking calls and emails beginning in November, getting to know all of you from Emory, Vanderbilt, Boston University and even Seoul, South Korea.

You sent us your resumes- some great, some not so great. We started from scratch for some of you and polished them up for others. Next we sent them out to our contacts for summer internships in Boston and New York City and set up interviews for you in March. It's amazing to me the far flung places you go for Spring break, but at least for those of you who were nice enough to squeeze in a few days to come back home to visit your parents (or high school buddies), you'll know that you've got a jump start on your internship search.

Don't forget to pack that suntan lotion!

-Dr. Internship

Biomedical Internship for an 8th grader?

Believe it or not, I've had more than one request for this ...and the answer is..... no! Which brings up a very important point. What is the best age for an internship?

It really depends on the maturity of the student. Sometimes a high school freshman can be more mature and ready for an internship than a high school senior. One very young student in our program did so well at her internship at an arts organization, the director told me that she was better than interns they've had from Harvard.

Ideally, sophomore and junior summer is ideal for a high school student. By then, they may have had an interesting course that sparked their interest or a school or family trip that inspired them. One mom told me that she thought her daughter would enjoy interior design but when we met with her, she spoke enthusiastically about a school trip to Washington, D.C. We placed her on a government internship at the State House where she was exposed to a myriad of experiences- everything from seeing how legislation is passed to attending hearings and lectures from mayors and governors.

With the internships fresh in their minds, students talk about their experiences during college interviews and on college essays.

So.... to our 8th graders (and their parents) - not this summer, but it's always good to plan ahead.

-Dr. Internship

Where do you begin?

Winter is the time to get serious about a summer internship. Stop day dreaming and swing into action! Many high school and college students have an idea about their "fantasy" internship - The Daily Show, Teen Vogue, the White House. I suggest another approach. It's always best to be a bit more realistic and think about your very first experience as a way to start to build your resume.

What are your interests (other than Xbox)? Do you have a special talent? Are you passionate about politics? Perhaps you write for your school newspaper. After we established an internship for a high school student with the editor of a local newspaper,she was able to land an internship in college at Dateline NBC in New York City.

Baby steps will lead to big results.

-Dr. Internship