Unpaid Internships – Worth The Risk?

Over the past few years, the number of college undergraduates and recent graduates engaging in unpaid internships has grown dramatically.  One expert estimates that there are between 1 and 2 million internships each year, and that in about half of these the interns are unpaid or paid less than the minimum wage. Another source estimates that up to 30 percent of college undergraduates do an unpaid internship at some point during their education.

There are several reasons for this increase.  Even assuming that many such internships are well-designed and executed to stay within the law, it cannot be denied that some firms would find that they simply cannot resist having eager young aspirants willing to work for nothing – especially in these economically-parlous times. The aspirants, too, often desperately seek these positions because they are generally thought to be essential résumé ingredients, especially in some of the so-called "glamour" industries, such as fashion,