If millennials were to have a single representative figure, it would doubtlessly be the unpaid intern. These overworked, underpaid college students – and sometimes college graduates – haunt the pages of several major news publications as the hapless victims of a system that articles label as “immoral”and “unfair.” Despite the overwhelmingly negative press, college students still seek out this free work in droves. The fact is that internships — paid or not — are a virtual necessity on the resumes of today’s college students. In a 2013 interview with The Dartmouth, the directors of Dartmouth’s Center for Professional Development described internships as “imperative” for jobs seekers. Unfortunately for college students, these internships are not imperative for employers — and therein lies the problem.
Internships, even unpaid ones, cost employers money, time and effort in order to hire and train newcomers. Because these positions are temporary, this time does not benefit companies in the long term. Intern Bridge, a consulting firm specializing in college recruiting, reports that only 36 percent of paid interns and 17 percent of unpaid interns will receive job offers from their employers, so the vast majority of interns will end up taking their newly-acquired skills elsewhere. Companies thus have little reason to dedicate their resources to taking on college students for short amounts of time. From a financial perspective, it makes more sense for employers to hire college graduates in full-time positions.
In addition, when companies hire interns, they put themselves at risk for costly lawsuits filed for insufficient compensation and intolerable working conditions. An increasing number of employers are ending their internship programs to avoid these lawsuits altogether. Most notably, Conde Nast disposed of its internship program in the fall of 2013 following several high-profile lawsuits, in which former interns claimed they were paid a mere one dollar an hour for a summer of work. It is unfortunate that with the end of Conde Nast’s internship program college students can no longer intern at 24 of the most read and admired magazines in print, but I am hard-pressed to blame the media company for exiting the internship arena entirely. With little payoff for both the employer and the employee, it is understandable that companies are increasingly reticent to take on college students for just a summer.
The fact remains, though, that college graduates are much less competitive in today’s job market if they have not completed an internship during their time as undergraduates. Until recently, the onus of financing these internships has fallen on both students and potential employers. An increasing number of colleges, however, have taken it upon themselves to provide their students funding for any completed internships. On its website, Connecticut College — one of four schools offering all of its students internship funding — states “College funding is key to making the pitch to companies.” Connecticut College administrators have realized that providing funding to all of their undergraduates not only removes financial constraints on students’ internship searches, but also lifts the burden of funding from companies that take on Connecticut College students during their summers.
Dartmouth could learn a lot from looking at schools like Connecticut College. While students can seek funds up to 4,000 dollars through organizations like the Dickey Center, the Tucker Foundation and The Rockefeller Center, this money is restricted to certain internships and students are not always given the full amount advertised. This is unacceptable, especially given that Dartmouth’s D-Plan forces students to take an off-term during the year, when fewer internships are offered. Students often feel pressure not to “waste” this off-term by working a paid position at home, but often only those whose parents can finance unpaid internships are able to take full advantage of the extra the D-Plan offers for internship experience. It’s no wonder, then, that over 700 students participated in corporate recruiting last winter — the pay these corporate internships offer is alluring for students who do not want to go broke on an off-term, even if the opportunities don’t always match these students’ true interests.
If Dartmouth wants its students not only to remain competitive after graduation but also to be able to take on a full array of internship opportunities, it must begin to offer all students internship funding for off-terms. Unpaid internships are not going away, and as an elite institution, Dartmouth is obligated to adapt to let its students make the most of these opportunities. The College would be making an investment in its students by giving them the chance to experience different career fields and gain practical, real world skills before graduation. It is this type of investment that would help Dartmouth remain one of the best universities at which to receive an undergraduate education.
