Energetic and insightful relationship - Robert Lewis JOB Houston

1. Energetic and Insightful Relationship-Builder Skilled in Career and Mental Health
CounselingTop Contributor
The unpaid internship has been a topic of debate for a while now, not only in the land of Career
Services but in the legal field as well. The launching of www.unpaidinternslawsuit.com, a
website created to assist those taken advantage of by working for free, confirms that this is an
issue attracting national attention. On my end, I have anecdotal evidence of the benefit of taking
on unpaid opportunities and have seen first-hand how they can work out well for employers and
for students.
For almost two years now, I’ve worked with an intelligent and motivated young woman who
majored in health services but had no direct experience in the field. To most, Central Florida
seems like an area ripe with opportunities in healthcare -and it can be- but breaking into the field
without direct experience can be an uphill battle. Even volunteer positions are highly coveted,
with multiple interviews and steps to the “hiring” process. Using www.internships.com, our team
found an unpaid internship at a local healthcare facility, and we formed a relationship with this
employer in order to directly refer our students. The facility ended up hiring one of our
healthcare students for their part-time unpaid internship. Fast forward to present day, the student
who took a risk by working for free in a competitive industry, is now working in a full-time
paying position with the same company. She’s been promoted up the ladder twice and has been
published in medical journals for her collaboration on cutting-edge medical studies. So, in this
case, the unpaid internship worked out well for all involved. I can think of at least four other
similar stories during my stint as a career advisor.
On the flip side, I have seen and heard of companies using unpaid internships to their advantage
by making promises that they can’t deliver on and don’t intend to keep. I can see how unpaid
internships could contribute to less opportunities overall for salaried workers, although I don’t
have direct knowledge of this happening with any of the employers we partner with.