Can Intern Aware Really Change the Face of Internships?

Internships have become essential for many professions. However, because internships aren't typically paid positions, they're unfeasible for many people. According to TheGuardian.com, the use of long-term, unpaid positions as an entry point to popular professions excludes those without well-off parents or other means of supporting themselves. Intern Aware, a British-based pressure group, is working to reform the internship system. But can the group really make a difference?

According to Forbes.com, many people agree that an internship is a valuable part of career development. Not only does an internship provide the intern with valuable work experience in his or her field of choice, but it allows the intern to network with experienced professionals. However, unpaid internships have plenty of critics, including the organization Intern Aware. This organization started as a Facebook group with the title, "Interns Must Be Paid Minimum Wage." The group has led campaigns focusing on the nonpayment of parliamentary interns, and it has continued to draw attention to the connection between the increasing unemployment rate among recent graduates and the widespread use of unpaid interns. 

The organization feels that unpaid internships don't benefit young people, employers, or society. The group is calling for fair access to the internship market by ensuring that all interns are paid at least the national minimum wage. According to Intern Aware, unpaid internships are damaging to society because they create a closed circle of privilege in professions. The organization also states that unpaid internships hurt employers by limiting the pool of skills and talent.

The controversy over unpaid internships in the United States escalated in June when a federal judge in New York ruled that Fox Searchlight Pictures violated minimum wage and overtime laws by not paying two company interns who worked on the 2010 movie Black Swan. In August, the controversy made headlines again when a twenty-one-year-old summer intern, Moritz Erhardt, died unexpectedly. According to the Huffington Post, Erhardt was a German exchange student who was working with Bank of America's Merrill Lynch division in London. He was only a week shy of completing his internship when his roommates found him dead. Since his death, Internet rumors have spread stating that Erhardt worked excessive hours the three days prior to his death. While the cause of death hasn't been confirmed, the death of the intern has escalated the controversy over whether unpaid internships should be legal.

While the controversy has been in the news repeatedly over the past few months, CNBC has reported that while organizations such as Intern Aware make the public aware of problems caused by unpaid internships, there is still a long way to go before unpaid internships vanish. Until then, the controversy will continue, and organizations like Intern Aware will continue to campaign for the rights of the company intern.

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