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Part of How to plan, run and measure a business internship properly
Business internships employers: warning signs before you accept
Business internships employers show weakness in the offer: no named supervisor, a payment request, an unpaid commitment with no test behind it, no past interns.
Some internship offers carry patterns that are consistently bad and easy to spot before you commit. A missing supervisor, a request for money, a long unpaid commitment and a program that cannot say what last year's interns produced all show up in the offer itself, and each one can be tested with a single question.
What to take away
- Six signs mark a weak offerno named supervisor, only exposure and networking, a long unpaid commitment, a payment request, no answer about last year's interns, and work unrelated to what you want next.
- A recruiting process that asks for payment of any kind has the signature of a job scam.
- Unpaid work at a for-profit employer has a legal test behind it, and an employer that has not considered it is telling you something.
- Each sign has a cheap question that tests it before you accept.
Six warning signs and the question that tests each
A warning sign is usually the absence of something a real program has, so each one has a matching question. Ask it in the interview or by email before you accept, and treat a vague answer as the answer.
| Warning sign | What it tells you | Question that tests it |
|---|---|---|
| No one can name your supervisor | You will be everybody's spare capacity | Who will I report to, and how many other interns will they supervise? |
| The description is only exposure and networking | You will spend the term looking for work | Is there a defined piece of work for me, or will I find one? |
| A long unpaid commitment called an opportunity | The employer may not have thought about the legal test | How long is the term, and is it paid? |
| A recruiter asks for payment of any kind | The signature of a job scam | None. Honest employers do not ask |
| No concrete answer about last year's interns | A program without substance produces an adjective | What did last year's interns actually produce? |
| The work has nothing to do with your next step | A pleasant summer and weak evidence | What will I be given in the first two weeks? |
Real Program vs Summer Job
Present in a real program
- Named supervisor
- Signs off your work
- Defined project
- Something to hand over
- Mid-point review
- Course correction possible
- Exit conversation
- Reference and a record
- Alumni you can ask
- Employer expects to be checked
Absent, and what that means
- Named supervisor
- Everybody's spare capacity
- Defined project
- Term spent looking for work
- Mid-point review
- Find out at the end
- Exit conversation
- Leave with a certificate
- Alumni you can ask
- Nobody will say
The question about last year's interns is the one that separates employers. A program with substance produces an answer immediately, in concrete terms. A program without one produces an adjective.
Questions That Get Real Answers
- Who will I report to?
- What did last year's interns produce?
- Is there a defined piece of work?
- How many last year's interns still in touch?
- What happens at the end?
The alumni check
Ask to speak to someone who did the program last year. Employers with good programs arrange it readily and are pleased to be asked, because they expect to be checked.
If the employer will not connect you, ask how many interns it took last year and how many are still there. Both are fair questions, and a silence after either of them tells you that nobody has been through the program, or nobody will say.
Payment requests and fake recruiters
A recruiting process that asks for payment of any kind has the signature of a job scam. The FTC's account of job scams states that honest employers will never ask you to pay upfront fees for a job or for equipment.
The same alert warns that scammers impersonate well-known companies to recruit for fake jobs. A famous name on the message therefore proves nothing, and two interns at the same famous employer can have completely different terms. Judge what is being asked of you, and refuse any request to pay.
The unpaid commitment and its legal test
In the US, whether an unpaid intern at a for-profit employer must be paid turns on a primary beneficiary analysis. The Labor Department sets out the test in its fact sheet on internship programs.
Primary Beneficiary Test Factors
- What both sides understood about payment
- Link to formal education
- Term limited to learning
- Intern does not displace paid staff
You are not being asked to litigate this. An employer that has thought about the test has necessarily thought about what the intern will learn, who will teach them, and how long that takes, because those are the factors. An employer that has not is running an unstructured arrangement, whatever it is called.
One reassuring line in an offer settles nothing, so ask what the term actually involves. The full question is covered in the FLSA test explained. Where the placement is paid, the ordinary rules apply, including the overtime requirements, so ask what happens when the team works a long week.
When the offer is sound but the fit is weak
A well-run, well-paid program at an employer whose work has nothing to do with what you want to do next is a pleasant summer and a weak piece of evidence. That is a legitimate choice if you make it deliberately.
The opposite trade deserves the same honesty. Count the full cost of an unpaid placement at a famous employer before deciding, because housing and travel for a term frequently exceed anything the famous name is worth.
Once you accept
Vetting ends when you accept. What to do with the term once you are in it is in the internships guide, and the stage-by-stage version is the business internships career path.
Take the answers you collected here with you, since they are the baseline for your first conversation with your supervisor. If the term drifts from what was described, you then have a record of what was promised.
Common questions
Does the employer's name matter at all?
For the first application after graduation, a recognized name gets your document read. After that, what you did matters much more, and the name fades quickly.
What should I do if an employer asks me to pay a fee or buy equipment?
Do not pay it. According to the FTC's account, honest employers will never ask for upfront fees for a job or for equipment, and the right response is to stop and check who is really asking.
Is a small employer worse than a large one?
Not necessarily, and often the opposite. Small employers give real work because they need it done. What they usually lack is structure, so the supervisor question matters even more.
Should I take a paid placement at an unknown employer over an unpaid one at a famous employer?
Usually, once you have counted the full cost of the unpaid one. Housing and travel for a term frequently exceed anything the famous name is worth.
