Dale Fontenot: 17 Incredible Facts About Internships In America

Friday, July 8, 2011

17 Incredible Facts About Internships In America

charlie sheen internship

Every year between one and two million Americans work as interns.

This is a broad estimate because the U.S. Labor Department and the Census Bureau don't account for or regulate internships -- which has led to the overwhelming growth of unpaid internships, many of which are illegal, according to Ross Perlin in his new book, "Intern Nation."

Perlin says the adoption of internships picked up steam in the 1980s and 1990s, expanding programs that had been smaller-scale arrangements based on connections. Today, the landscape is different, and many interns are willing to work for free.

"Students are explicitly being told you need to do an internship in order to be marketable after graduation," says Gina Neff, an assistant professor at the University of Washington.

One intern paid NYU $1,600 in college credits for an unpaid internship on The Daily Show. Another from UPenn paid $2,800 for a one-credit online seminar required by her internship at NBC Universal. Other prestigious internship programs, like the White House and CNN, accept fewer than 1% of thousands of applicants.

About 75% of students at 4-year schools undertake at least one internship -- this is double what it was in the early 1980s

Disney runs one of the world's largest internship programs, employing between 7,000 to 8,000 interns annually

The schedule of Disney's internships is determined by the manpower needs, requiring students to temporarily suspend schooling or continue it on Disney's terms.

Most Disney interns don't know what job they will do, or how much they're going to get paid before they start working. They typically work 12-hour shifts and have no sick days or days off.