Paying for Internships

Not paying interns to work is not a new idea. But many of us in the workforce development field are shocked by the latest trend: Interns paying to get an internship. Time magazine profiled this trend last summer. A website called CharityBuzz.com sells all kinds of things online and the money raised goes to a non-profit charity. Most of the items sold props used in TV shows and movies that are then signed by the celebrity actors in those shows or movies. People bid online at the CharityBuzz.com website and the money from the winning bid goes to a specified charity. But CharityBuzz.com has expanded and is now auctioning off internships. Time magazine auctioned off a 1-day internship to a 39-year-old man in Florida. The man did some of the basic reporting on what was the record price paid for a 1-day internship – that was a 1-day internship for the singer Beyonce, which sold for $22,750. The woman who bought that internship didn’t actually work with Beyonce but with Beyonce’s mom, Tina, who also happens to be Beyonce’s tour manager. The woman who paid the $22,750 got to design and make Beyonce’s dress, which the singer wore that night to a sold out concert in Los Angeles. The woman also had her $22,750 go to Miss A Meal, which is a charity that Beyonce and her mom support and that helps feed poor children and homeless people. But that is not the record paid for a short-term internship. One person successfully won a 6-week internship working for Virgin Airlines CEO Richard Branson in England – and all the intern had to pay was a mere $85,000. But Americans were not to be outdone. Def Jam CEO Russell Simmons sold a 6-week internship working for him also for $85,000. This trend of paying for internships is confusing. And some of us in the workforce development field hope that this trend settles down.