But interns are free, right?

I was poking around on Craigslist this morning, and alongside a sweet deal on a Rhodes, I noticed that roughly 60% of the marketing job listings were for internships. None of which offered pay, temp-to-perm opportunities, or really any promises beyond “something great for your resume.” This got me to thinking, who benefits by hiring interns?

In most settings, interns are there for the educational and real world experience provided by time spent out of the classroom and in the workplace. Problem is, too many companies are forced into hiring freezes, cutbacks, and RIFs. So they turn to interns to fill what would really be someone’s job. So what? Who cares? Well …

When you’ve got a team of “employees” that’re actually interns, you’re getting the greenest of green staff. Your company rests on their shoulders, and the time spent training them detracts from most everything else. I’ve hired, trained, and supervised plenty of interns. In each instance, they were unpaid and receiving college credit. And I made sure that they were treated well for their efforts. One group got taken to NYC for a series of meetings with high ranking executives of companies like ASCAP and Sirius. Another group got handed multiple sets of tickets to sold out shows. Their job, their sole purpose, is to learn — not to work. The more the scale shifted towards grunt labor or “intern work,” the more I felt compelled to reward or compensate their efforts. It was the fair thing to do.

One company I worked with had a paid intern. He got $12/hr, worked full time on a 1099, and handled a truly massive amount of responsibility. Just out of college, he didn’t really understand how companies operate, or what he might “deserve” for equal efforts in another setting. Ultimately, he talked to his boss. In her “generosity” she upped him to $14/hour, but no full-time offer, or health benefits. One could reasonably argue that the company benefitted – at his expense.

At the same time, there’s a glut of crappy marketing, SMO work, and general activity on the Internet. I’m willing to bet that the time and budget spent hiring quality, experienced people would result in greater revenues for the companies that tried to skimp out by hiring interns instead of employees. Think of interns as an investment. Done well, post-graduation you’ve got an ideal job candidate. They can be part of your support team, but they’re never a substitute for actual hires.

Crappy work – even when there’s lot of it for free – is still crappy work. You can’t blame your interns, they’re there to learn. Isn’t that why you brought them in? If not, you might want to rethink a few things…