Intern wanted
Unclutterer.com is looking for a summer intern to be a part of our organized, unclutterer team. This internship pays ZERO DOLLARS, but we will eagerly work with your school to provide you with internship credit. If the zero dollars didn’t run you off and you’re still reading, then look over the following points and see if you could be considered:
- A college sophomore or junior currently enrolled in a journalism program;
- Earned a B+ or better in both Reporting I and Copy Editing I (or their equivalents);
- A basic understanding of html and css;
- Full comprehension that the internship pays nothing but amazing online journalism experience;
- Able to receive course credit from your school for the internship (legally, you have to receive course credit since this is an unpaid internship — so this is a make it or break it item);
- A love for Unclutterer.com; and
- Possess a positive attitude, is a self-starter, and can work productively for hours without falling victim to Chainfactor.com or similarly addictive diversions.
If this sounds like you, please drop us a line on our contact page. Tell us about yourself, how you meet our points of consideration, and provide a way for us to contact you in return. We will reply only to candidates of interest. Please do not include a resume in your initial message, as we’re more interested in looking at how you write about yourself in expository form.
Posted by Erin on Mar 6, 2008 |
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11 comments posted
Posted by Slopy Joe - 03/06/2008
Don’t tell me about things like Chainfactor.com while I’m at work!! Now I’m not gonna get anything done….
Posted by heatherly - 03/06/2008
I so did not need to know about Chain Factor. What a complete time sucker. Thanks a lot! (now back to my new obsession…)
Posted by Jen - 03/06/2008
Just out of curiousity, what law requires that unpaid interns receive college credit for their work? I was an unpaid intern and never heard of such a thing, and for years I employed unpaid interns–some of whom got college credit, others who didn’t–and never heard of such a law.
Posted by angela - 03/06/2008
I am still waiting for the chainfactor obbsession to go away. I don’t even want to tell you how long its been going..
Posted by Erin Doland - 03/06/2008
@Jen — Most (all?) states have laws on their books against unpaid labor practices. These laws, as it has been explained to me, came about at the end of the Civil War as legal barriers to slavery. Our lawyer assures us that having college students do work for free and without getting course credit is a very, very bad idea.
My assumption — and this is just a guess — is that the laws are different between profit and non-profit organizations. Therefore, non-profits would be able to have volunteers, and that is how they can get around these laws.
Posted by Courtney I - 03/06/2008
Also, the Federal government is allowed to have unpaid interns. I did an internship for the International Export Agency (part of the Department of Commerce) for free and for no course credit. Sigh.
Posted by Jen - 03/06/2008
Erin: Thanks for your reply. In the interest of good journalism, it’s inaccurate to say, “legally, you have to receive course credit since this is an unpaid internship,” because that’s not the federal law, nor is it the law in most (any?) states. If you look at this…
http://career.uhh.hawaii.edu/D.....elines.php
…you’ll see the criteria that the Department of Labor outlines for unpaid internships. I understand your lawyer’s anxiousness over the issue. But as a journalist myself (and one who works in the legal profession), I think it’s important to strive for accuracy in reporting, even if it is a job posting! I’m sure you don’t want all of the prospective interns who read this–even the ones who don’t come to work for Unclutter–to mistakenly believe that internship providers are legally required to provide them with college credit.
Posted by Erin Doland - 03/06/2008
@Jen — I called an employment lawyer. In journalism school, we learned to call lawyers when investigating issues of the law. It is not irresponsible to say that it is a legal obligation when that is the information given to me by an employment lawyer of the state in which our business is registered. We at Unclutterer stand firm in our commitment against slave labor.
I have no desire to be locked up in prison, heavily sanctioned, or even investigated for violating a labor law — so even if it was poor advice, I see no reason not to insist that our interns receive college credit for their hard work.
Posted by Anonymous - 03/07/2008
Thank you for the link to Chainfactor.com.
Posted by Cate - 03/09/2008
Ugh. Chainfactor. It is a time sucker!!
But I love it.
Posted by Jason - 03/10/2008
I worked four internships in college, two paid and two unpaid, two for credit and two not. It was a pretty matrix so that I got all four possible combinations. I can’t say that either pay nor class credit received had any real effect on my level of enjoyment, amount learned, or quality of work done. My unpaid not-for-credit was with a for-profit company, and I’m quite certain I wasn’t violating any work laws, as it was with a law office that specialized in fair wages and working condition for migrant laborers.
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