The Last Clacker Standing

The world will never again have another Andrea Saks. Devastation has fallen among many writing and journalism students who have dreamed of becoming "Clackers" themselves and working for Vogue, the fashion bible.  

While there is still hope to work for Vogue or any other of the 25 Conde Nast Magazine, there  is no hope of interning for them. Conde Nast closed their internship programs on October 24th for reasons they declined to elaborate on. 

Conde Nast Building*

One of the reasons they decided to close was because of two lawsuits filed against them from former interns of W magazine and The New Yorker for not abiding by New York State Labor and lack of appropriate compensation, one intern was compensated $12 a day for 12 hour days at the fashion magazine, according to a Forbes article. Conde Nast interns received school credit with little compensation. 

What many people forget is that while interns are receiving school credit, that school credit isn't free. A 6-credit internship can cost an intern $1,500. I've been more then lucky with two major internships, only one done for credit however part of my travel was compensated and the company worked really well with me to make sure I would be able to work part time as well, as did my previous internship without credit. 

However, for Conde Nast to allow interns to work 12 hours a day for $12 hours is not only heartless but it isn't doing the magazine any good. If this is how their interns are worked, how much do they rely on interns? I would put serious money on betting they rely heavily on interns. 

Not only are interns paying to work there and getting very little compenstaed ($12 a day won't cover a two way subway ride and a cup of coffee) and unable to work a part time job to help them pay for bills or basic necessities. There are several ways this situation can be alleviated. (1) Pay your interns, your making a more then enough to pay them $12 an hour. or (2) Pay for their credit for them and allow then to adjust hours so they can work part time and make some form of money for themselves.

The Devil Wears Prada*

This is a difficult decision to make on the interns end. Do they intern at a prestigious magazine and suffer financially or do they intern somewhere smaller where they are more likely to work with interns and their part time jobs, or do they not intern at all and hope that after graduation they will be successful at finding a job? 

Personally, based on past experience, I think interning is extremely important and valuable. I learned more about PR at my internships then I could have ever learned in the classroom. PR is hands on not textbook material. However, had I not been as lucky as i was with flexible agencies then I don't know how possible it would have been for me to have an internship especially since i pay all my own bills and I don't have the luxury, like many students my age, of having Mommy and Daddy pay for my summer at home as well paying for everything once i go back to school.  

This is a dilemma all students have to face and isn't just an issue with Conde Nast. My advice: Find an agency that is willing to work with you and part time hours, but make sure you work your tail off to make sure it was worth it for them to take you on and work with your schedule.

Intern Life*

*Images were taken from Google. Laziness took over. Sorry.