Wednesday, November 21, 2018 // The Statement
7B
complaints have been filed rather
than proactively investigating them.
That said, employment in some
fields is so competitive that unpaid
internships are increasingly neces-
sary, particularly in journalism and
public policy. Between 2016 and 2026,
journalism is projected to have a 2
percent decline in job opportunities.
On campus, University of Michigan
offices such as the University Career
Center and the Opportunity Hub
attempt to facilitate ways for students
to take advantage of unpaid intern-
ships with a vast array of program-
ming. Joelle Fundaro Randall, an
assistant director at the Career Cen-
ter, said that though students may
be insistent about getting unpaid
internships, there are other oppor-
tunities that offer the same rewards.
“If I am connecting with a student
and they are really focused on the
internship, I say let’s pause for a sec-
ond, there are other ways of getting
these opportunities to help you develop
your skills outside of a formal intern-
ship,” Randall said. “Sometimes there
is research on campus, student groups
that do a lot of different things and
are part of a community. Those skills
are transferable into the workplace.”
Outside of coaching, the Career
Center offers resources for students
to find paid internships or to acquire
the means to be able to financially
accept an unpaid position. For exam-
ple, the Public Service Intern Pro-
gram coaches students on how to
attain opportunities in Washington
D.C. Alongside PSIP, they also offer
the
Applebaum
Internship
which
allows students to find opportunities
in Detroit, and the Samo Alajbegović
Fellowship for students working in
the countries on the Adriatic Sea.
The Career Center also invites every
student who is registered through the
Office of the Registrar, including mas-
ter’s degree and Ph.D. students, to their
online employment database, Hand-
shake. Fundaro Randall expressed
that the Career Center has about
3,700 paid internships in their system.
“I think the biggest piece is students
not knowing where to look for intern-
ships, so when we coach students, if they
mention that they are low SES (socio-
economic status) or any of those piec-
es, we coach them on how to find these
opportunities,” Fundaro Randall said.
The Hub partners with LSA Scholar-
ships to help students on a need-based
basis and they also, like the Career
Center, have drop-in coaching hours
in which students have conversations
with coaches that have resources like
scholarships, stipends and knowl-
edge of other opportunities at hand.
Yet, as the testimonies of University
students Zach Tingley, Monica Kim
and Lydia Murray show, sometimes
students’ interests are in fields where
very few paid internships are offered,
and the assistance of a scholarship from
the University isn’t always sufficient.
According to CNBC, an unpaid
internship could cost up to $12,986
and
students
with
insufficient
funds might be forced to obtain
a second job or go into debt to be
able to afford these opportunities.
On the other hand, LSA junior Tay-
lor Lind talks positively about her
experience with an unpaid internship
and the LSA Internship Scholarship.
“It was the summer after my fresh-
man year I didn’t really know what
I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to
work
in
environmental
advocacy
and I didn’t know how,” Lind said.
“I thought that working for govern-
ment might be a good option, so I
reached out to my local city govern-
ment. I wanted to see if they had any
opportunities but I didn’t see anything
posted so I had to cold contact and I
did it with the help of the Hub since
I was an employee there at the time.”
When she was finally hired by
her local government for the intern-
ship position and they told her it
would be an unpaid opportunity, she
decided to apply for the LSA Intern-
ship Scholarship and was granted
$1,500 to cover her expenses while
working for her local government
in California and living at home.
“Although I am not necessarily going
into government, I learned so much
about how the environmental efforts
can be integrated and the barriers that
they face,” Lind said. “I really value the
knowledge that I gained from it and
… The fact that it was unpaid (didn’t
take away from the experience).”
However, a common theme of con-
fusion and misinformation came out
while talking to representatives of both
the Career Center and the LSA Oppor-
tunity Hub. Lind expressed that she
had contacts in LSA Scholarships while
she was applying and suggested that,
though she isn’t sure, other students
that don’t have that may have some
confusion in the application process.
There are differing opinions regard-
ing unpaid internships. Some com-
panies view them as necessary to
their vitality as organizations, but
some others, such as Conde Nast, are
known to use their interns as unskilled
and free labor while giving them
almost no recognition for their work
or lasting skills or connections after
their short internship experiences.
Despite the disagreement on wheth-
er opportunities should be paid or
unpaid, a 2012 study shows that 55 per-
cent of students had a form of internship
or co-op experience during their years
in school. These rates more than dou-
ble the numbers a similar study found
two decades ago, according to Pro-
Publica. As internships become more
and more important tools for students
who are trying to break into industries,
some may be forced to go to extreme
measures to get these opportunities.
Yet, as the testimonies of University students
Zach Tingley, Monica Kim and Lydia Murray
show, sometimes students’ interests are in
fields where very few paid internships are
offered, and the assistance of a scholarship