Denver SID offices - Are you kidding me?

It's statements like this that make me feel sorry for your soul just a little.

 

He has no soul.

And, Denver should be embarrassed by this -- humiliated even.

Folks should report this, and publicize it.

 

I don't know about the ethics of it ... what they really seem to be doing is soliciting volunteers ... but I can't imagine that something like this hasn't already been vetted by the university's HR/legal staff. In higher education you don't really do anything personnel-related with about six million (OK, I exaggerate ... just a bit) checks from across the administration. I'd be very surprised if this hasn't already been deemed kosher.

 

Thanks. I just sent them an email, with the link to the job.

Do I expect anything to come from it? Hell no.

But I feel better, knowing I tried to make the world safer for four Sports Information Interns at a time.

 

I guess Penn State needed six million and one checks for Jerry Sandusky.

 

It seems like they're really, really limiting their pool of applicants - for no particular reason. You'll get recent grads with strong internships already under their belt (and whose parents are prepared to support through yet one more) and people with spouses who make enough for two.

 

Got a pretty quick response from them, but all they did was tell me to go to the state web site.

 

It's illegal. Plain and simple. It was illegal when I was an intern. Unfortunately, no one charged with enforcing the laws that apply give a damn.

 

I believe the federal law was recently tightened on this. My company eliminated its intern program because of the law. (It's possible that the law stayed the same, but the corporate interpretation changed.)

On some level, I think that's unfortunate. I wouldn't have the job I have if it weren't for my unpaid internship 20+ years ago. I have former interns doing well in the business now, and they may not have gotten there without the internship. I would say my internship was certainly an "augment to the existing workforce," but they wouldn't have paid anyone to do it. Long-term I benefited far more than the station. (At the same time, probably 95% of my interns have been little more than a pain in the ass, and did not augment the workforce at all.)

Having said that, the Denver situation appears unconscionable. There's simply no excuse to "hiring" interns and demanding degrees and experience.

As someone said, though, they'll probably have no problem finding willing people. A few years ago there was a PR position open with a local pro team. I talked to a friend who dealt with the team frequently to get a feel for the job, because I was thinking of applying. She told me the team had long-term interns in house who would kill to do the job for free and to adjust my hopes accordingly.

 

I hope that what is unstated in these really unbelievable requirements for doing a full-time job for free is that you would get really generous perks and travel allowances and free graduate school.

But probably not.

I hope Denver gets what it pays for.

And, truthfully, if you do employ someone as an unpaid intern, how can you require them to do anything? You could maybe ask nicely.

 

Sometime in the late 80s or possible 1990, I had an unpaid internship -- not in journalism -- that was done for school credit. I had to fulfill a certain number of hours, or something like that, in order to get the credit. My supervisor had to verify it and the company, in offering the internship, had to go through the university. It was not a full-time gig, though.

But Ace, you can require things out of people. Even volunteers are expected to do certain things. I mean, if you sign on as a Red Cross volunteer, you can set your hours and say what you want to do, but once you agree to that, there is some accountability.

If you don't show up or do the work, you can be fired. Sure, no money exchanges hands, but I don't think it's correct to say that just because someone works for no pay means the supervisor can't "require" them to do anything.

Maybe to someone who doesn't work a lot with volunteers it is too fine a line to discern, but I work regularly with them (and, technically, I am one, even though I paid a stipend) and if someone doesn't show up, do the work right or whatever, they're done.