Paying Big Bucks to Land an Unpaid Internship

It’s the end of summer, and that means that businesses around the country are being emptied of their interns. Early this summer, they arrived with their youth and their ambition. As the air turns crisp, they go home, leaving behind neatly stacked piles of folders, well organized databases, and, perhaps, a good impression.

But a small group of those interns left something else behind: a wad of cash. Today, a growing number of young people ? or their parents ? are paying thousands of dollars for the privilege of working an unpaid internship.

What does this say about the lengths young people and their parents will go to in order land a good job? And who really benefits from this setup? Jenna Johnson has researched this topic for the Washington Post, and joins us to discuss it.

We also speak with Farah Ardeshir. She just started her junior year at Eastern Kentucky University, majoring in political science. This summer, Farah used a placement agency to land an internship with a nonprofit human rights organization in DC. Was it worth it? Farah says the jury’s still out.