Open letter to...UNPAID INTERN

The Stranger has an Unpaid Intern on its staff.

So, UNPAID INTERN, why are you "Unpaid?"

Is the Stranger a nonprofit organization? Is it on its last-legs financially? And you feel the need to volunteer to help spread whatever word you think they are spreading?

I am so long out of college that I no longer even use the expression "When I was in college." But I notice that The Stranger seems to have a lot of "Unpaid Interns." (Or is there is only one unpaid intern?) And the rest of the interns get some salary? Is this some new trend in the work-force? You work hard but they don't pay you because you are supposedly so incompetent? But you don't seem incompetent at all.

Just curious: why do you do it? Is it common these days? You seem pretty adept and if you are the ONLY Unpaid Intern right now, you have done some pretty good stuff. What does the union think? I assume that The Stranger -- an a bastion of enlightenment -- is unionized. Or at least adheres to union standards for its workforce. (I can understand an employer's desire not to have a union -- hey! no one wants to share power -- but at least it should provide the same basic benefits as does a union shop.)

But what really puzzles me is that they keep you wrapped in a blanket of annonymity. Why? We don't even know your name or anything about you; you don't even get the benefit of a byline -- pretty cheezy of Management, I think; the least they could give you is the chance to collect some clippings with your name on them. Now all you can do is go yo some future employer and claim that you were UNPAID INTERN.

Anyway, it would be nice to hear -- once you are out of their grip and they can't bully you with a bad recommendation -- your thoughts on the identity and reality of being "Unpaid Intern." I guess what I find most weird and even a bit disturbing is that they deny you individuality and identity and spreading your name around, which of course has got to be one of the big, few (and real) benefits of being an intern.

But it sure seems like a great deal for the employer. Sure they have to supervise you more than they would if you had five years experience. But I doubt if a smart college kid needs a whole lot of supervision to do a good "The Morning News." Do all businesses do the "Unpaid Intern" things? Sounds like a George Bush kind of program. Is it widespread in Seattle? Among what industries?

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Btw, here's one opinion from one of your compatriots: Take This Internship and Shove It.

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UPDATE: In all seriousness, (and this post is meant seriously) I am NOT saying that The Stranger is doiing anything unusual, unethical much less illegal. A lot of companies and organization seems to be getting free work from "interns" these days.

What I am saying is that I am surprised that the job market is so tight that young people starting out seem to need to work for free. Honest, I am shocked.

And I am definitley saying that the lack of a name and dignity given to UNPAID INTERN is weird and makes me think of live women covered in fabric, though I don't want to push the analogy too far. A little teasing in the office for "the baby" is understandable and maybe even internally bonding but in public he or she is part of the team and should have an individual identity such as a NAME.

Comments

[Gomez]

This is why I would never work for them. If you want my services, you need to pay me for them, and that probably goes for any other self respecting human with abilities.

[Ryan]

This post is a winner.

And utterly hilarious.

We want answers, Dan Savage!

[Norman Blogster]

I have no idea what "The Stranger" is, but it reminds me of my post from last year about Foreign Office Architects: http://www.partiv.com/2005/12/zeroes-of-our-time-foreign-office.html

[jlt]

I doubt the Stranger is a full union shop - doesn't the designer/typesetters union specifically forbid unpaid internships? Paid interns are one thing, but unpaid? That is ludicrous for anyone but a charity.

[internmentcamp]

The Stranger has about 4 interns (I think). Internships are a great way to get your foot in the door and most posts that look like some work has been put into them (i.e. not the AM news) list the writer's name in the heading somewhere.

[Eric F]

The Stranger is not unionized, and nobody's ever talked about unionizing that I know of, other than me, once, as a joke. I'm sure there are a few alt-weeklies, but the Voice is the only one I know of. Interns don't take unpaid internships because the job market is tight. If you need a job, you can't afford to do an internship, obviously. And Gomez, judging by the frequency of your postings on Slog, you're doing all kinds of free work for The Stranger.

[Michael]

The Stranger likely operates on a shoestring - Norman, most people in Seattle have no idea what "The Stranger" is, either.

Personally, I've never considered it much more than a humor magazine. Sadder still is that the Weekly sank down to their level in competition for the Gen Y reader. Now you can't read an "alternative" article in this city that doesn't contain at least one gratuitous self-referential paragraph.

There are cities that have great alternative papers. Seattle isn't one of them.