Sometimes, it’s for free. Other times, it’s for college credit. On rare occasions, for pay. Some call it slave labor, while others call it a lucky break.
It’s no question that internships are becoming an easier catch for college graduates than entry-level positions. On occasion, the smooth transition from internship to entry-level job becomes a reality. For others, each internship is a stepping-stone to hopefully landing a job. But since employers have seen the rising trend of people wanting to work even for free to gain experience, a new question has been raised: Are businesses taking advantage of their interns?
In April of last year, the Wage and Hour Division of theU.S. Department of Labor came out with Fact Sheet #71, titled Internship Programs Under The Fair Labor Standards Act. The basics are that the internship has to be a learning experience, and that the intern—not the employer—needs to benefit the most from the internship.
In light of new rules regarding internships, organizations are being forced to take a stronger glance at their current programs. New Voices asked several interns and their supervisors at a variety of Jewish organizations how these rules have affected them. Though some of the organizations contacted chose not to comment or were unaware of the new push to follow these internship rules, all of the organizations insisted that their programs will significantly help the intern after he or she has completed the program, regardless of whether the intern is paid or unpaid.
The Jewish Heritage Museum in Manhattan offers an extensive list of internships across the world. The Lipper Intern School Partnership Program is an internship that accepts graduate and undergraduate students from the northeast to teach students the importance of the holocaust and to then pass down their knowledge to local middle and high schoolers. The internship is paid by the museum and funded through fundraising efforts. Among the many internship opportunities at the museum, there are also the general internships in different departments of the museum. These internships are unpaid, but students can receive college credit.
“In fact, some of my closest employees at the museum have been interns from our programs,” Betsy Aldredge, the public relations manager for the museum, said.
She also said that the museum is happy to provide recommendation letters and to help students get to the next step in their career, even though the general internships are unpaid,
Naomi Steinberger, the director of library services for the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary, said the library’s program, which she called “highly selective,” provides college credit for the program, but is also unpaid.
“Students come to us from JTS and library schools like [PRATT Institute],” Steinberger said. “We usually ask for students to not work more than 20 hours a week because it’s just too much after that.”
Even though students are not paid for the internship, Steinberger said that there are other benefits to being an intern at the library.
“Some graduate students will end up writing a final report that they can present at a job interview when trying to land an entry-level position,” she said.
Alexis Frankel, the New York assistant director of the American Jewish Committee, and Lena Altman, the director of ACCESS NY at AJC, said that the Goldman Fellowship Program is one of the more popular internship programs through AJC. ACCESS is a program that was launched in 2005 to empower young professionals to discuss national and international policy issues from people of different cultural backgrounds, according to the AJC website.
“The fellowship gives undergraduate and graduate students the chance to work abroad in their field,” Frankel said. Interns are currently at the Brussels EUJS program, in Melbourne with affiliate Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council and in Warsaw with the Forum for Dialogue Among Nations.
According to the AJC website, students are given $3,000 for the 9-week program outside of the United States, not including traveling expenses that are also paid for.
“AJC’s ethos is giving the Jewish community a global voice,” Frankel said. “Because of this, we feel it is important to provide our Goldman Fellows with substantive and unique opportunities to work on Jewish issues globally so they can see our work and that of our partners in action.”
However, the Helen and Martin Kimmel Internship Program, a volunteer internship program to work with AJC stateside, is unpaid.
On the other hand, the Collegiate Leadership Internship Program is a paid leadership program for rising sophomores, juniors and seniors in college in the New York area. The program acts partially as a placement service, providing students with the chance to work four days a week with a Jewish organization. Once a week, the students take part in a seminar where they apply what they have learned in their organization.
Naomi Rosenblatt, the coordinator for CLIP, said that organizations that are interested in having student interns are required to sign a contact with CLIP to ensure that the student is spending no more than 30 percent of their time on clerical work.
“We are really supportive of the interns,” Rosenblatt said.
The contract also requires the organization to pay a stipend to CLIP, where it is processed and passed on to the student.
Alexandra Picheny, 20, is a student at Brandeis University studying Sociology and Near Eastern and Judaic Studies. She is a CLIP intern for the Foundation for Jewish Camp in New York.
Picheny said she feels privileged to have not only a paid internship but to be part of a prestigious internship program. At the end of her internship, she will be presenting an appendix to the AVICHAI Foundation in regards to the Cornerstone Seminar, a three-day training seminar where students design new programs on how they can improve counselor-camper interaction at camp gatherings.
“It allows for Jews from across the world to bond over their Judaism and different internships,” Picheny said. “Yet it also allows for us to grow as individuals, workers and the future of the Jewish world.”
Matthew Sackett, 21, is a student at State University of New York-Binghamton, studying Business Management. He too is part of the CLIP program and is a team member for Capital Gifts & Special Initiatives for the United Jewish Appeal-Federation NY.
Sackett, who recently took a class on Jewish nonprofits. wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the Jewish world.
“The position is a lot more flexible in terms of taking time off, or asking for extensions on projects,” Sackett said.
Sackett thinks that interns and their employers can share some of the blame when an intern is given too much grunt work.
“I think it depends on what company or organization you work for. At UJA, my supervisor works with me to figure out what I’m interested in and finds projects to fit that mold,” Sackett said. “I think if an intern is getting busy work, it may be the employer’s fault, but the intern is also to blame for not taking control.”
Emily Sasser, a student at the University of Florida who is pursing a Masters in Public Health, is part of Manoa, a student leadership program at UF Hillel divided into six teams. Sasser is the intern for Tzedek, the community service team.
Sasser knew that she wanted a program that was directed toward social action and social justice projects and says that the internship gives her the chance to try new things and expand programming.
“I have experienced both grunt work and exciting opportunities during each year,” Sasser said. “Interning on a college campus is great because my main job was to program for people my age—so even if it was grunt work, I enjoyed it.”
However, simply because internships are easier for students to come by during college doesn’t mean they aren’t just as selective as full jobs. Rosenberg said that an estimated 200 students applied for only 41 openings at CLIP.
Other internship providers, are building onto their program with funding provided by community donors. The Cleveland Jewish News offers three such internships, all of which are paid.
Michael Bennett, the publisher and editor of the Cleveland Jewish News, said that the interns are given the same respect as the regular staff. Aside from their significantly different payscale, the interns are given the opportunity to sit in on staff meetings, and to observe and work alongside professional journalists. Their interns also team up with the local Hillel to meet other Jewish interns in the Cleveland area. Bennett stressed the importance of having an internship as a good foundation to build a career.
“Look, any employer wants experience,” Bennett said. “If I were looking at your resume, I would want to hire someone fresh out college with good clippings and internship experience.”
Rebecca Rosenberg, an editorial intern for the Cleveland Jewish News, is in a 10-week internship program. At the internship, she is given the chance to write multiple news stories a week and is given a lot of room to learn about the a journalistic work environment. Even though she is pursuing broadcast journalism, Rosenberg said that she was convinced to take up any journalism-related internship after attending a seminar last July where a news anchor from E! stressed the importance of interning.
She said she was surprised when the office gave her the paperwork to fill out for getting paid. Even if she wasn’t getting paid, Rosenberg said she still would have taken the internship in hopes of having employers take note of how motivated she is to pursue her dreams.
