WinWinWinArrangement ExploitaKon KevinLiles - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Internships:
Friend
or
Foe?


3
Million
Stories
Conference,
March
8‐9,
2013


Alexandre
Frene=e


CUNY
Graduate
Center
 afrene=e@gc.cuny.edu


Win‐Win‐Win
Arrangement


ExploitaKon


Kevin
Liles


1991:
Unpaid
intern,
Def
Jam
/
1998:
President,
Def
Jam
Music
Group


Methods


ParKcipant
observaKon
as
unpaid
intern


‐ Major
record
company
 ‐ Indie‐oriented
distributor


Semi‐structured
interviews
(57
parKcipants)


‐
Interns
(25),
Employees
(28),
College
personnel
(4)


What
Interns
Do


“What
you
make
of
it”


“And
I
think
this
internship
is,
you
know,
totally
 what
you
make
of
it.
We’ve
had
people
who
 come
in
here
and
sit
here
and
watch
videos
on
 YouTube.
If
that’s,
you
know,
your
prerogaKve,
 awesome,
do
your
thing,
I’m
not
going
to
stop
 you.”
–
A&R
employee


“What
you
make
of
it”


“We
try
to
impress
upon
our
students
that
no
 ma=er
where
you
go
[in
the
music
industry]
 you’re
going
to
be
doing
mundane
tasks
(…).
At
 some
companies
they’re
not
really
good
at
 gauging
a
parKcular
student,
but
we
always
tell
 them
–
go
in,
do
what
you
can,
whatever
job
that
 they
give
you
you
do
the
best
that
you
can
do
at
 it
because
if
you
do
this
job
well
they’re
going
to
 move
you
up
to
do
the
next
job
and
just
conKnue


• n.”
–
Internship
coordinator


Why
Companies
Host
Interns


• Inexpensive
source
of
labor
(extra
hands,


good
for
one’s
advancement,
replacing
staff)


• Influx
of
youth,
informaKon,
and
ideas

• Training
ground
+
pipeline
for
job
candidates


CharacterisKcs
and
constraints:


“Just
the
intern”:
 1) Low
status
 2) Presumed
incompetence
 3) Temporary


Low
Status


“Enjoy
learning
about
all
the
kinds
of
la=es
 Starbucks
makes!”(…)
“Soon
you
will
be
able
 to
fix
any
paper
jam
that
the
photocopier
will
 throw
at
you!”
–
Major
record
label,
Sales
employee


Presumed
Incompetence


“A
good
intern
knows
where
to
put
a
stamp
on
an
 envelope.
A
bad
intern,
I’d
say,
wouldn’t.”


‐
DistribuKon
company,
Digital
sales
employee


“You
come
in
not
as
somebody
I
know
who
you
are
now,
 but
you
come
in
as
another
intern.
[…]
Intern
A
comes
 in,
Intern
B
comes
in,
one
of
them
is
good,
one
of
them
 is
bad,
and
you
don’t
know
what
they’re
capable
of
 doing.
So
automaKcally
you
just
generalize
and
say,
 ‘OK,
it’s
an
intern.’
And
then
all
of
a
sudden
by
the
Kme
 we
get
to
know
you,
you’re
gone.”


–
Major
record
label,
Sales
employee


Intern
Lawsuits


• Charlie
Rose
(~$250,000
se=lement)

• Elite
Model
Management

• Fox
Entertainment
Group

• Hearst
CorporaKon