Amalia Arguello, a recent graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder, is hitting the streets of New York, looking for the next opportunity to put her public-relations degree to good use.
As she interviews for jobs and internships, she is surprised by the number of times she has inquired whether the position paid and even more shocked by how many times the answer is “No.”
In an age where entry-level jobs expect new hires to hit the ground running, employers want students who have on-the-job experiences such as internships, said Jeremy Podany, director of the career center at Colorado State University.
“Of students that did not have an internship at CSU, only 22 percent got jobs after graduation,” Podany said, citing the 2012-13 school year.
While the importance of internships is clear, the laws surrounding them are not. In 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor created six guidelines to determine whether an unpaid internship is legal. However, some employers are unaware of the guidelines, and others walk a fine between following them and abusing them.
Podany said there is a lot of gray area surrounding the guidelines that can make their interpretation and execution questionable.
“Any of our students who are doing an unpaid internship, we share with them the six guidelines,” he said. “If a for-profit organization comes to the university with an unpaid-internship opportunity, we highly encourage them to pay minimum wage.”
Dylan Mark, CU’s internship development specialist, said students do find internships without the help of a school but might not receive the same quality of experience without a university to vet the position and keep track of progress.
Arguello knew the necessity of internships and landed two during college; one offered a stipend and the other was unpaid.
Aware that her field had unpaid opportunities, she took the part-time unpaid position for college credit because she had another job to support her.
As she wrote pitch letters, blogged, managed social media and planned events for the company, the lack of pay was always in the back of her mind.
“I noticed that I wasn’t as invested,” she said. “If they were asking me to go above and beyond, I’d think that they shouldn’t be asking this of me because I’m not getting paid.”
Now Arguello is staying with her parents and looking for paid internships.
“I can’t find anything,” she said. “They’re asking you to work 40 hours a week or more, and they’re not offering you anything at all.”
Because some students acquire internships through a university and others do so on their own, the data on how many students are snagging paid internships versus unpaid ones is inconclusive.
About 31.7 percent of the 2,298 internships offered last year through CU were unpaid, Mark said.
“We’re not trying to be a legal body, so we’re not trying to make sure that it’s absolutely 100 percent legal,” he said. “What we are trying to do is make sure that’s it’s a good experience. We look for things like orientation, training, supervision and evaluation.”
Beyond the six points in its guidance document, the Department of Labor also advises that the more educational an internship is — rather than a way for the company to avoid hiring paid workers — the more legal it is considered.
Neal Rogers, editor of Boulder-based cycling magazine VeloNews, started at the publication as an intern 13 years ago and worked his way up. Now he offers the same chance to a couple of students each year. The positions are unpaid.
“Is it worth it to work for free for three or four months to break into a competitive industry and into their dream job? I would say so,” Rogers said.
Rogers was unfamiliar with the six-guideline test but said because VeloNews internships can be taken for school credit and the work environment is fun and engaging, the positions are a great opportunity.
“Some interns make themselves invaluable to the point where you don’t want to lose them,” he said.
Max Nagel attends Boston’s Northeastern University, where he said internships and co-ops are a part of the curriculum. He has been interning at VeloNews for the past few weeks.
Nagel, who is studying music business, said his interests in cycling and writing prompted him to take the internship.
At VeloNews, Nagel has proofread pages, written photo captions, interviewed athletes, created Web content and transcribed interviews.
“I’ve enjoyed all of it so far,” he said.
Nagel, who is doing the internship for college credit, has a second paid gig and financial help from his folks to compensate.
“There are times when I’m doing a lot of work, and it’d be nice to get paid, but, unfortunately, this is just the way things are now,” he said.
Unpaid positions are more common in fields such as journalism, the sports industry, health and exercise, and social services, according to Podany. Internships in fields such as finance, accounting, engineering and technology tend to be paid.
Jean Manning-Clark is the director of the career center and employer relations at Colorado School of Mines, a public research university devoted to engineering and applied science.
Mines does not accept postings for unpaid internships, partly because there are few unpaid positions in the school’s offered fields and partly because it is unfair, Manning-Clark said.
“We believe in having the kids paid, especially because there are usually expenses when you’re working, whether it’s driving to the site or parking,” she said. “It wouldn’t be fair to the kids.”
Since engineering and science fields are in demand, Manning-Clark said five to 10 companies per week ask Mines to post their paid positions. Manning-Clark added that the Department of Labor is cracking down on companies who do not offer interns at least minimum wage.
CBS was recently sued by a former unpaid intern who accused the network and “Late Show With David Letterman” of violating minimum wage and overtime laws. In 2013, a federal judge in New York sided with production interns who worked on Fox Searchlight Pictures’ 2010 movie “Black Swan.” They, too, had sued over minimum wage and overtime violations.
If CU students wanted to pursue legal action over their internships, Mark said they would probably be directed to the school’s legal services department.
Philip Bienvenu, director of student legal services at CU for the past 17 years, has never come across a student interested in suing over their internship.
“I know part of what’s going on is they feel if they can get an internship, they can get a foothold so that they know somebody in the company,” Bienvenu said.
Arguello agreed, adding that companies know students will do free work with the hope of getting hired.
“A lot of times I’m sure it’s just easier for a company to get another intern they don’t have to pay,” she said. “That’s why the cycle keeps happening.”
She continues to turn down unpaid positions.
“I think students and young professionals need to stop accepting these unpaid positions and speak up about deserving to be paid for working,” she said. “I feel like that will start setting it into employers’ brains.”
Elizabeth Hernandez: 303-954-1223, ehernandez@denverpost.com or twitter.com/literally_lizzy
Six guidelines
Six Department of Labor guidelines determine whether unpaid internships at for-profit companies are legal. All six must be met.
1. Even though the internship includes actual operation of the employer’s facilities, it is similar to training that 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.
