Internships can be a good opportunity to get hands-on experience in the workplace and make connections. They are a chance to build skills you can’t learn in a classroom and can be impressive additions to a résumé. However, despite the opportunities they provide, internships — especially if they are unpaid — are often difficult to access or are financially unviable for the majority of people. Unfortunately, unpaid internships have become a necessary reality for many students on the road to achieving their career aspirations.
Any kind of extensive, unpaid work that is not volunteer work can be called an unpaid internship. In some cases, they are synonymous with free labour, youth exploitation, and disappointing work experiences. Despite this, unpaid internships remain highly sought after, and the experiences that students have with them vary.
Andrew Langille is a Toronto-based lawyer and founder of Youth and Work, an organization that aims to inform young people of workplace law and their rights. Though the definition of unpaid internship varies, if the number of students doing unpaid work-integrated learning in academic programs is combined with the number of unpaid internships undertaken by young workers outside of academic programs, he says that there could be as many as 300,000 unpaid internships annually.
Despite a lack of historical data or ongoing tracking of the number of unpaid internships in the labour market, as well as a lack of official figures for people aged 18 to 25, Langille believes there could be hundreds of thousands of these positions occurring each year in Canada’s labour market. Langille is one of a number of commentators who have called on governments to begin collecting data.
INDUSTRY EXPOSURE
“What’s clear is that unpaid internships have been getting increasingly common in the last two decades and have become particularly problematic in the post-financial crisis labour market,” Langille said. When asked why unpaid internships are so ubiquitous, Langille suggested, “It’s the classic catch-22: you need to have experience to get the job. Unpaid internships are a very easy way to do that.”
Langille’s statement proved true for Emily*, a recent U of T graduate, who felt as though she had no choice but to do an internship. Working towards a career in publishing, she said that it is almost a given that, in order to break into that field, some very specific — often unpaid — experience is necessary. Emily worked at a small publishing firm for three months, where she carried out menial tasks like organizing the boardroom, getting paper towels, and buying milk.
Emily was excited at first, but found that she was not getting the experience she had hoped for. “I didn’t feel challenged. I wasn’t allowed to participate in meetings. I gained exposure to the industry, but I wasn’t given challenging tasks — I had to bother them for things to do,” she explained.
Although Emily was given a $500 stipend, averaging out to around $47 per week, this figure would not be nearly enough to live on. “Sometimes internships are necessary — you can have an MA and still have to do eight months of unpaid work,” said Emily. “The industry relies on interns.”
Taylor Stinson, also a recent U of T graduate, took up a position in a local office during the summer before starting her Masters. There, she was placed in charge of the company’s social media accounts and blog. Stinson wrote engagement emails and did some small marketing tasks.
“I had no idea what to expect. I went in with mixed emotions about internships and thought that I would at least be able to see what a real working environment was like and gain experience alone from that,” Stinson said, adding: “At first I felt like I was doing worthwhile work, but then I began to see that what I was doing was menial grunt work.”
At one point, one of Stinson’s jobs was to contact people on Red Flag deals, which she described as “basically spamming people.” Stinson quickly realized that she hated the work. “I also felt really taken advantage of and unappreciated when I never received any of the weekly free coffee and lunches the company had initially promised me in the interview and job posting,” Stinson recalled.
Stinson quit the internship after six weeks.
“I probably wouldn’t advise anyone to do an unpaid internship, unless it involved school credit. I’m going to do my Masters in journalism this year at Ryerson, in which I have to do an internship for school credit; however, it is only six weeks, which I feel is a way more reasonable timeframe,” she said.
“I think it’s absolutely financially irresponsible to have these unpaid internships that are not monitored at all. If you are performing work that benefits a company, you should be paid for your efforts. Many workplaces use year-round intern positions as a means of cutting costs and saving money on menial tasks, and it’s not right,” said Stinson.
DOING IT FOR THE EXPERIENCE
“Nobody is questioning the value of internships — neither myself nor any of the groups I work with question that — but the thing is, if you’re doing work, you should be getting paid for it. Unpaid internships have become synonymous with free labour,” Langille said.
Sofia Luu, a fourth-year diaspora and transnational studies and book and media studies student at U of T, worked at WORN Fashion Journal as a publishing intern from April to November 2012.
The internship consisted of 10 hours a week, with five hours spent in the downtown office doing basic housekeeping tasks such as packing issues, mailing them out, and preparing for upcoming shows. Luu also worked on promotional campaigns for the journal’s current and upcoming issues. Outside of the office, the work included research for campaigns, compiling emails for contacts, and working at shows.
“I didn’t like packing big boxes for large shipments because it would take forever, but it’s something we only have to do twice a year,” Luu commented. “I’m happy I did the internship. Whether it was unpaid or not, it doesn’t really matter now. Everyone at WORN volunteers their time to put a publication together two times a year, so it’s not like I was getting cheated or anything.”
Luu said that she would intern at WORN again if she had the chance to, but that she does not support all unpaid internships. “Unpaid full-time internships are still a big no-no. Even if there is a glimmer of hope in the form of a paying job in the end, it’s not worth it… Meaningless work is meaningless work whether or not you’re getting paid,” she said.
Not everyone is able to complete an unpaid internship. It is a luxury to be able to work for free — a reality that even students who have benefitted from their experiences acknowledge. Kaleem Hawa, a third-year student at U of T, worked an unpaid internship with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva during the summer of 2013. With the WHO, Hawa investigated the links between public health and climate change, and analyzed the availability of healthcare technologies in three countries. As an international relations and global health student, this was a great chance to gain practical experience related to his interests and areas of study.
This year, Hawa was able to reap the benefits of the internship, securing a paid position with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “I can’t stress how valuable the experience was,” Hawa said.
At the same time, Hawa acknowledged that not everyone can access opportunities like this. “People who have more financial means can work for free, but then it means that employers lose out on qualified candidates,” Hawa said.
James*, like Hawa, started out as an unpaid intern and was later able to find paid work. The political science and American studies student began working for a Toronto-based not-for-profit labour rights organization during his first year at U of T. This is James’ third year with this organization and he is now paid for his work. “[Labour rights] is something I’ve always been really passionate about,” James said about his decision to join the organization, which advocates for and educates workers in precarious situations.
James’ work consists of sponsorship, event planning, and database and website management. “I feel like I’m contributing to the cause, and I felt the same even when I was unpaid,” James said. The work schedule is mercifully flexible — James said they are accommodating of his timetable as a student and make arrangements around the dates of his tests and exams. According to James, one year after he started work, the organization contacted him and said, “We would like to pay you.” James is happy with the organization and his experience. “They really value labour rights and are firmly rooted in their belief system,” he said.
INTERNSHIPS IN ACADEMIA
Langille believes that unpaid internships shouldn’t exist outside of academia. Even so, he has serious reservations as to whether they should exist even in academic settings. “Certainly, co-op programs are good. I don’t think anybody is attacking the idea of an internship or work-integrated learning in and of itself, but there are some serious problems,” Langille said.
Helena*, a third-year McGill student studying chemistry and English, pursued paid employment at first, but to no avail. Midway through the summer, a professor who had given a guest lecture in one of her chemistry classes emailed her to offer her a lab position. “I decided to take it because it was a good learning opportunity, it was related to my field of study, and frankly, it gave me something to do over the summer,” Helena said.
The role involved some menial lab work, such as cleaning glassware, tidying the lab, and refilling solvent bottles. Helena also helped others with their lab work and ran chemical tests. With assistance, she conducted her own tests and reactions, putting together a presentation for a group meeting. “I didn’t really feel like I was doing worthwhile work most of the time,” Helena recalled.
“For the longest time, nothing was explained properly to me, so not only did I not understand the chemistry or the particulars of the procedures, I didn’t understand why I was doing certain reactions at all — which was a bit detrimental,” said Helena. Due to this lack of communication, Helena had a conflict with one of her supervisors because she didn’t anticipate the tasks she had to do.
Additionally, Helena found the lab disorganized and she was left without her own clear project. “I could not take initiative in my work — besides cleaning — I always had to wait and/or ask for someone else to give me tasks to do,” she said.
However, Helena enjoyed learning many new lab techniques and some new chemistry, as well as making new friends. “In the end, yes I am happy I took the unpaid internship. I did learn new things that will contribute to my education, as well as how to deal with different people in a work environment. I am also glad of the new friends I made. I would say that the experience, above all, is worth it. Any experience is invaluable, so if the opportunity presents itself, I would say to seize it,” she said.
Rebecca Zhu, a fourth-year English and psychology research double specialist student at U of T, did an internship at Johns Hopkins University as a full-time research assistant for two months in 2013. The internship was voluntary, but Zhu also received a stipend of $1,500 for two months. The money was not nearly enough to cover her approximately $4,000 in living costs.
“It’s an interesting angle because universities are generally allowed to hire people for less than minimum wage whereas other companies can’t,” said Zhu. If Zhu’s stipend was converted into a per hour rate, she was paid around $5 per hour.
Zhu said she expected the job to be very fast-paced and demanding. “When someone is investing money into you — even a small amount — they expect much more of you,” Zhu said. In the end, Zhu conducted a study on the development of number skills in five- to seven-year-old children, taking full charge of the project. After the internship was over, Zhu corresponded with the professors with whom she worked over email, with the hope of publishing her research.
“I have mixed feelings — I wish I had been paid more, but understand that I was lucky to get paid at all,” Zhu said of the financial aspect of her experience. However, Zhu was pleased with the overall experience. “I definitely felt I was doing worthwhile work, especially since I got an academic paper out of it,” said Zhu.
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
Ultimately, Langille is dissatisfied with the political efforts regarding unpaid internships. “I don’t think our society is doing a good job of addressing the needs of young people. You only need to look at the past provincial election or the current municipal election; Toronto has an alarming issue with youth unemployment and the candidates never talk about it,” Langille said, calling for the government to address the issue of youth unemployment in particular.
As for students looking to advocate for their rights, Langille recommends joining political organizations and speaking out. “Three years ago, nobody was talking about the unpaid internship issue and now it’s quite a serious policy issue,” he said, adding: “Some groups are starting to form around these issues, but young people have to get active — that’s the only way that change happens.”
*Names have been changed upon request.
