Success Secrets of Unpaid Interns: The Key is Getting By Through Part-Time Jobs And Thrift

After Dominic Peacock was chosen for an unpaid summer internship at the National Congress of American Indians, he did not go for the airfare from Albuquerque, instead he boarded a bus and took a 44-hour road trip.

Peacock usually walks a few blocks to a hotel restaurant where he buses tables until 1 a.m. following a long day thumbing through bills as well as working for legislation to protect tribal artifacts. Peacock's 60 to 75 working hours per week can still afford him a day off to catch up on dorm room chores in his American University and explore the city.

"This is the schedule that I want. I'm going to finish this. I don't care what it costs," said Mr. Peacock, a senior at the University of New Mexico and member of the Acoma Pueblo tribe as cited on The New York Times.

Like Mr. Peacock, a number of interns have descended on the nation's capital in hopes to have links as well as work experience sorting mail, answering phones and occasionally aiding with larger projects in federal institutions, congressional offices, nonprofits and legal divisions across the city.

Both the government and nonprofit organizations, not like private companies, don't have to pay them. According to Congressional Research Service, over two hundred federal programs within Washington do offer internship positions. Some of these positions are paid, while some are not. Each year, congressional offices hire thousands of interns, but pay very few of them. And because a federal appeals court ruling just last year, there are now some private companies that can hire free interns, provided that they earn college credit instead of wages.

Although these interns don't cost their employers anything, some economists believe that such programs do carry a cost. Free labor could utterly be depressing wages in Washington, turning the federal government as well as Capitol Hill into arenas where only affluent students can be able to work. The children of the privilege, in turn, get the upper hand on their less fortunate classmates.

"If your parents are living paycheck to paycheck, how are you going to do it? It restricts access to jobs in government to a narrower group of people," said Ross Eisenbrey, vice president of the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank that focuses on labor and economic issues.

Eisenbrey further said that the situation is alarming because unpaid internships definitely drive down wages for entry-level jobs, forcing would-be employees to compete with college students who are much willing to work for nothing.

A 2012 survey revealed that human resource professionals, managers and executives highly consider internships as the most significant factor when deciding whether to hire a recent college graduate.

Mr. Peacock, who is a striver now, said he is hoping that his summer of sometimes 70-hour workweeks will get him an edge as soon as he applies to law school after graduation. Working as an intern in Washington last fall, Mr. Peacock said that he truly wanted to return to the National Congress of American Indians for the summer although he already knew that he would have to work long hours to pay his way.

"If you really work hard then you're going to be victorious. As long as I'm doing something that benefits the tribe, that's O.K. with me," Mr. Peacock said.