Opinion

Skip the internship

What’s an internship worth? As much as it pays, apparently. Earlier this week, a federal judge ruled that Fox Searchlight Pictures had violated federal and New York minimum-wage laws by not paying its production interns.

The plaintiffs in the case claimed that they were doing work that paid employees would’ve done otherwise. And they got nothing out of it that paid employees wouldn’t have. The judge agreed: “Undoubtedly, [the interns] received some benefits from their internships, such as résumé listings, job references and an understanding of how a production office works… But those benefits were incidental to working in the office like any other employees and were not the result of internships intentionally structured to benefit them.”

If that’s the new standard, a lot of employers are in big trouble. Like politicians, for instance. Asked in 2010 how she could having unpaid interns when she wants other employers to be forced to pay the minimum wage, Nancy Pelosi replied: “We train them in what we do here in government.”

Sure, all those interns answering phone calls from irate constituents and stuffing envelopes will undoubtedly learn how a congressional office works. Is that enough to justify not paying them? Pelosi had better hope it doesn’t come up.

In fact, though liberal politicians don’t want to say it, a job is worth what an employee decides it’s worth. If a 22-year-old college graduate wants to work for free for a summer to find out how the senator takes his coffee, rub shoulders with some prominent clients or learn how to use the Xerox machine, let him at it!

The ruling, of course, will prompt many companies to end their unpaid internships. As an article on the Atlantic’s Web site put it, “Having young adults work for free is now officially a legal liability.”

But let’s look on the bright side. First, colleges will stop this absurd policy of offering credits for experiences that are not the same as taking real courses in real subjects.

More important, maybe young adults will reconsider the benefits of paid menial labor.

Whether it’s dealing with difficult customers while waiting tables, controlling bratty children at summer camp or having a bank manager breathe down your neck while you recount the cash in your drawer or typing names and addresses into an Excel file, there are important skills to be gained: learning how to act professionally and how to deal with difficult personalities.

Oh, and getting paid lets you see how much the government takes out of your paycheck.

Danielle McKenna, who taught middle-school Spanish until recently, told me that spending every several summers working at Dairy Queen during high school and college helped her learn some “people skills.” Her years waitressing at a tourist hotspot on Cape Cod required “some serious multitasking.” What did she get out of a summer internship at Merrill Lynch after her sophomore year of college? “Nothing” — except learning she “didn’t want to work there.”

Mira Greenland, director of sales and business development at Tweetmyjobs.com, says her experience working at a call center at the University of Connecticut while a student there changed how she does her job. “You came into a bullpen for a few hours a couple of nights a week” to call alumni to ask for contributions “and you dialed until you dropped.” Looking back, she says, “It taught me persistence, it taught me how to deal with being rejected and not to let it stop me.”

In her recent memoir, Michelle Rhee, the former DC schools chancellor, recalled working summers at a sandwich shop during her college years: She learned how to fire incompetent employees — which served her well in her later endeavors.

Tony Woodlief, who works at the State Policy Network and writes about parenting four boys, warns young people that “ ‘getting exposed to a professional workplace,’ or ‘to Capitol Hill,’ or whatever else somebody is peddling to lure you to work for free, is overrated.”

Ultimately, he believes, “kids need to learn how to work through personality conflicts in the workplace, how to put forth a good effort, how to be on time, etc. They can learn all that just as well digging ditches.” And digging ditches pays better too.