The Three Simple Cs of Internships: Guest Post by Bey-Ling Sha, Ph.D., APR
February 28th, 2010 | Author: Arika Daniels
Most public relations firms
in SoCal and around the country want to have interns, but many of these PR firms
don't even understand what an intern really is. An intern, by law (federal law,
not some law I made up just for fun), is a college student who receives training
in a specific field, such as public relations. An intern is not . repeat, is NOT
. a gopher, a photocopier, a coffee-maker, a personal assistant, a babysitter,
or a slave.
Others have already written about this, but . clearly . some
folks are still not getting it. So, let me make things even simpler for you: Any
organization wishing to hire an intern needs to remember the three
Cs:
Cash. You can pay your interns. Gasp! What a concept! But, yes, if
your organization can pay a college student at least minimum wage, this is the
simplest way to make sure that you are not breaking the law. Paying the intern
puts that student into a regular employer-employee relationship with your
organization, with its accompanying protections for things like
insurance.
Credit. If you are not paying your intern, then that student
must be receiving college credit for working with your organization. And please,
people, understand that YOU are not in a position to offer college credit (yes,
fix those ignorant ads on craigslist). Only colleges can offer college credit
(hence the name). Different universities have different rules about how much
academic credit they will give for internships, as well as about which students
qualify academically to receive such credit.
Community Nonprofit. If you
cannot pay the intern, and if the student cannot get academic credit from a
university, then your organization must be a registered 501c3 nonprofit. To hire
an intern in this case, you must make sure that the intern undergoes the same
training as any other volunteer for your organization. I highly doubt that any
public relations firms qualify for this category . just because your company had
no net profits last quarter does not make you a 501c3 nonprofit!
So, that
sums it up. You can have more than one of these three Cs in the internship, but
you must have at least one, or you will be in violation of the law.
As
for all you SoCal PR firms out there that have interns working (often full-time)
in your offices, without pay, and without college credit (either because they
don't qualify academically for it or they have already graduated) . I just hope
that you have a really good lawyer on retainer.
Bey-Ling Sha, Ph.D., APR,
is an associate professor of public relations in the School of Journalism &
Media Studies at San Diego State University, where she coordinates the public
relations internship program.
A friend sent me this article on Twitter: In college many of us
are/were often so desperate for an internship, we would do
anything for another line on our resume. Just something to bear in mind.
--Rachel Kaplan
Hunter 2009
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