Princeton University will be holding an Internship Program Info Session on January 8, 2013 from 4:30-5:30pm in Guyot Hall Room 10. This event will be open to all university freshmen, sophomores, and juniors.

In today’s tough job market, internships have become another option for graduates who cannot find work, but still want to make the most of their time. An internship can provide useful on-the-job experience that can either directly lead to a position (many companies will hire full-time employees from their internship pool) or at least provide valuable work experience. Internships have long been an important bridge for students looking to get work experience with employers.

As with anything, there is a dark side to internship programs as well. In recent years, many stories have emerged of interns who were treated as little better than manual labor, forced to work long hours doing menial work with little-to-none valuable work training involved. One intern interviewed in a New York Times article complained of working 12-hour shifts, unpaid, at the Diane von Furstenberg offices in New York City; instead of getting valuable on-the-job training in the fashion industry she hoped to work in, the intern was delegated tasks like grabbing lunch for the office or cleaning out closets. Many people who take on unpaid internships are recent college graduates who cannot find viable work alternatives.

The Labor Department regulates employers who do not pay their interns under federal labor laws. In 2010, the Labor Department released a set of six criteria for unpaid internships. Among the requirements, employers who use unpaid interns must include a work environment “similar to training which would be given in an educational environment” or vocational training program and must provide an experience that is “for the benefit of the intern.”

Despite the negative publicity, most internship programs are still remarkably competitive. Depending on the company, some students are finding it nearly as hard to land an unpaid internship than a paying job. Students who are fortunate enough to land internships should treat their work as an ongoing, extended interview: this is your opportunity to prove to your boss that you are valuable enough to be brought on as a full-time employee. Even if an offer for a permanent position doesn’t materialize at the end of an internship, your employer can provide a valuable reference, and the training you’ve received can be directly applied to your next (hopefully full-time) position.

Have you had an internship before and did you find the experience to be helpful? If the internship was unpaid, did your employer provide valuable vocational training? Let us know in the comments!

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