Is It OK to Pay for the Privilege of Being Unpaid?

Yesterday's New York Times carried an article by Gerry Shih about a new trend in summer internships: paying a headhunter to find you that dream job. In what is sometimes known as the "real world", it has long been considered unethical for a recruiter to charge applicants to be presented as candidates for an open position: it's up to the hiring companies to pay recruiters for bringing talent to their attention.

But in the not-quite-so-real world of summer internships, there are a number of for-profit players who charge thousands of dollars to help students find the perfect summer "job".

I have found the existing trend for internships -- rather than paying summer jobs -- troubling enough. Proponents of internships argue that it's better for students exploring future career opportunities to have actual experience in, say, an advertising agency, rather than shoveling popcorn in a movie theater or working as a camp counselor (two of my college-era summer jobs, and neither of which had much of anything to do with my post-college careers). If you learn that you hate advertising, well, it's only been for the summer, and if you love it, well, it's given your "employer" an opportunity to see what you can really do, and he or she will be more enthusiastic about offering you a full-time position. What's the problem?

There are two problems with internships, in my view. First -- last time I checked -- servitude, even voluntary servitude, is illegal. Yes, I know that internships aren't considered slavery, but what else do you call work that, in any other circumstances, would be paid, but isn't in this one?

But I have a second, and more important, ethical concern. We like to think of this country as a meritocracy: study hard, work hard, and you too can become a plutocrat (should that be your dream). But working-class students don't have the luxury of taking internships: they need to earn money during the summer (and during the school year, too) to help defray the costs of their educations.

So an internship is really another leg up for middle- and upper-middle class kids. Who already have a bunch of those. And paying for an internship just ratchets this disparity up to yet an more unequal level.

I sympathize with parents who just want the best for their kids, parents who worry that in this new global economy maybe their kids won't be able to compete. I understand that perspective. But that doesn't make it right.

And it might even backfire: as the article notes, some "cautioned that while the desire to help is understandable, parents who pay for an internship program are depriving their children of the chance to develop job-seeking skills or to take rejection before they have to fend for themselves."