Justifying Unpaid Internships: HR Pros on Appropriate Situations
What if the unpaid internship—long villainized as exploitation—could, in rare, tightly-defined cases, become the single most transformative launchpad for a young career?
In an era where “pay your interns” has become gospel, a provocative minority of leaders dares to ask: are there still moments when the value of pure, unadulterated learning so far outweighs financial compensation that an unpaid role is not just fair—but ethically superior?
This HR Spotlight probes that tension, gathering hard-won perspectives from CEOs and HR veterans who’ve drawn bright lines around when “unpaid” stops meaning “unethical.”
From psychology chartership to martial-arts mentorship, from digital-marketing shadows to nonprofit practicums their answers reveal a surprising truth: when the internship is engineered as pure education—with zero production pressure, explicit learning outcomes, and the student as the undeniable primary beneficiary—unpaid can become unforgettable.
Read on!
In growth and digital marketing, the only fair case for an unpaid internship is a short, credit-bearing, mentorship-first observership where the student is the clear primary beneficiary.
I’ve set up programs like this for early-career marketers and analysts, and the structure makes all the difference.
The intern shadows real work, learns the tools, and builds a portfolio in a controlled “sandbox,” but nothing they produce is shipped, billed, or tied to revenue.
Think practice briefs, mock campaigns with anonymized data, or a pro bono exercise agreed with a nonprofit.
The learning goals are explicit. A senior mentor meets weekly. The intern owns their portfolio artifacts and gets a detailed reference at the end.
It’s also time-boxed and flexible. Four to six weeks. Ten to fifteen hours a week. Clear start and finish. No on-call work. No production deadlines.
If travel is involved, cover expenses. If the role drifts into real deliverables or measurable outcomes for the business, it becomes a paid role on the spot.
Why this works: the value flows to the student, not the company.
They gain skills, feedback, and proof of work they can show employers. The company gives time and coaching, not extracting labor. It’s honest, teachable, and easy to audit.
My litmus test is simple: would you ship it, attach a KPI to it, or present it to a client? If yes, pay the person.
If no—and the experience is truly educational with strong mentorship and academic credit—an unpaid placement can be appropriate.
One tip for leaders: write the learning outcomes before the internship description.
If you can’t name the tools, decisions, and artifacts the intern will leave with, you’re not offering training—you’re filling a seat.
Mentorship-First Marketing Internships Benefit Students, Not Companies
Look, in a trade like roofing, the whole “unpaid internship” thing is a bit of a tricky subject.
We’re not a tech company where someone can get coffee and watch code being written. Our guys are out there swinging hammers, climbing ladders, and lifting heavy material. It’s dangerous, skilled work.
So, the idea of someone doing that for free doesn’t sit right with me. I don’t believe in using free labor for a job that a professional gets paid to do.
However, there is one specific situation where I think an unpaid position can be fair, and that’s for a high school or college student who is doing a required program, like a vocational or construction management class.
It would be a situation where the student is getting academic credit, and the purpose of the time with us is purely educational.
We’d treat them like they’re shadowing, not working.
In this scenario, they’re not doing tear-offs or installations.
They’re spending time with me in the office learning how to bid on a job, seeing how we manage a project from start to finish, and going out to job sites to observe safety protocols and material handling.
They’re learning the business side of the trade, not being used as a worker.
It’s about giving them a real-world look at the industry to help them decide if this is a career they want to pursue. It’s a genuine learning experience that benefits them and doesn’t take work away from our paid crew. That’s the only way I’d ever consider it appropriate.
Roofing Internships Must Teach Business, Not Replace Workers
Arsen Misakyan
CEO & Founder, Angel City Limo
In high-end transportation, the only place an unpaid intern made sense to me was dinner school, and the educational effort was for a high-level skill of making dinner, and not a benefit of free labor.
We have, for example, instituted two-week “shadow programs” at Angel City Limo, where students who think they might like to learn event logistics get to shadow coordinators on site and ride shotgun on planning calls, as well as be trained in scheduling software — no grunt work, just immersion.
The fact is, there is a real educational value, and one day it ends.
Our interns walked away with a portfolio piece — a pretend transportation plan for an actual event — and often landed paid work in hospitality or logistics down the line.
They gave it because it was short, and it was from mentors, so no one felt exploited. Many of them, as they exited, came back as paid seasonal staff.
I’d recommend that other companies be transparent about what they are trying to do going forward.
If it adds value to the business’s bottom line or an external customer, then it should pay well.
But if the goal is to give students industry experience and connections on an accelerated time frame, unpaid internships can make sense — so long as learning, not labor, remains the focus.
Transportation Shadows Learn Skills, Not Provide Labor
Tony Ragan
President, Absolute Pest Management
One situation where I believe offering an unpaid internship is fair is when the opportunity is structured as a true learning experience and not just free labor.
Early in my career, I agreed to mentor a young intern who wanted to break into private equity but had no prior exposure to the industry.
We were upfront that the internship was unpaid, but in exchange, I made sure he shadowed me in meetings, sat in on real deal negotiations, and received one-on-one coaching about financial modeling and relationship building.
He wasn’t filing paperwork or running errands; he was being trained in skills that would have cost thousands of dollars in a classroom.
That experience stuck with me because the intern later told me the three months he spent with us carried more weight than his college coursework when he landed his first analyst role.
For me, fairness lies in transparency and value exchange.
If the company is honest about the unpaid nature of the role and committed to giving meaningful exposure, mentorship, and real-world experience, then an unpaid internship can be appropriate.
But it only works if the intern leaves with tangible skills and connections that move their career forward.
Private Equity Mentorship Outweighs Classroom Education
Samantha Stuart
Co-Founder, Magic City Pest Control
When I worked at a nonprofit early in my career, we offered an unpaid internship for graduate students in HR management who specifically needed practicum hours to complete their degree.
The arrangement was clear from the start: the role was structured around learning outcomes, not production needs.
Interns weren’t expected to replace staff or carry the workload of a paid employee; instead, they shadowed, observed, and applied classroom concepts in a real-world setting.
For many of them, it was a direct bridge to finishing their program, and the experience itself held tangible academic value.
Nonprofit Practicums Serve Learning Outcomes, Not Production
Ben Schwencke
Chief Psychologist, Test Partnership
In occupational psychology, there is a formal chartership process that requires experience in several distinct areas.
Training and development, selection and assessment, leadership, workforce planning etc.
Naturally, finding experience in all of these domains can be challenging, and showing evidence of experience can be even harder.
Unpaid internships make sense in this area, as they grant trainees the opportunity to acquire experience in these chartership domains, without needing to commit to full-time permanent employment.
Trainees could undertake an internship within an HR department, or as part of a consultancy, or alongside a psychometric test provider, granting them valuable experience which can be used as evidence of experience.
Moreover, these internships will provide contacts, references, and professional connections which help trainees to progress through the chartership process more generally.
For these trainees, the goal is very much to gain relevant experience, it isn’t to earn a salary.
Indeed, they may already have an employer who is supportive of their chartership journey, and would grant them leave to gain relevant experience elsewhere.
Yes, paid internships would naturally be more desirable, but unpaid internships represent a great way of acquiring professional experience which can aid the chartership process that would otherwise not be available.
Psychology Chartership Requires Experience Over Payment
Unpaid internships can be fair when they are transparent and focused purely on developing themselves.
A good example is inviting an intern to join a two week sprint where they observe how content marketing in digital learning is planned and delivered.
During this time they shadow professionals, join brainstorming sessions and practice creating smaller assets that mentors later review. Each step is built to provide exposure without placing the weight of company operations on the intern.
Fairness comes from intent. The experience is structured around growth rather than cost savings.
The value becomes clear when a company treats it as an investment in future talent.
The exchange is balanced if the intern finishes with a stronger sense of their skills and career direction.
Even without pay both sides gain something meaningful and the learning experience becomes worthwhile.
Digital Marketing Shadows Gain Skills Through Observation
Daria Turanska
Legal Manager, Faster Draft
In the legal-tech industry, offering an unpaid internship can be considered fair only in highly specific situations—such as a short-term, skill-building internship tied directly to an academic program, where the intern receives academic credit and the experience is structured purely for learning, not labor.
For example, a 3-week internship for law students where they shadow contract automation workflows, attend mock client calls, and get exposure to legal document lifecycles—without performing billable work or replacing an employee role—can be appropriate if it’s transparent, optional, and provides real educational value.
Even then, it must comply with labor laws (e.g., the U.S. Department of Labor’s seven-point test), and we lean toward paid opportunities whenever possible.
In our industry, fairness starts with respecting the boundary between learning and exploitation.
Legal-Tech Shadows Learn Systems Without Replacing StaffOwn Mistakes First, Win Trust
Alim Sheykhislyamov
Owner & Judo Coach, Challenge Sports Club Inc.
As the owner of Challenge Sports Club Inc., I’ve observed that the landscape of internships has evolved, making the conversation around unpaid positions increasingly nuanced.
In the realm of martial arts, particularly in settings like ours where character development is as valued as technical skills, offering an unpaid internship can indeed be fair and appropriate, especially when it comes to providing opportunities for students aspiring to careers in coaching, sport management, or youth development.
Consider a situation where a university student majoring in physical education or kinesiology seeks hands-on experience within a judo environment.
An unpaid internship could allow them to immerse themselves in our training programs, assist qualified coaches, support children in their classes, and understand the intricacies of running a martial arts school.
This experience not only provides valuable insights into coaching and mentorship but also helps them develop essential interpersonal skills-skills that extend far beyond the mat.
Here at Challenge Sports Club, we welcome aspiring interns to help with tasks like organizing seasonal camps or leading warm-ups under supervision.
These roles can serve as practical learning experiences, cultivating a sense of responsibility while fostering their passion for the sport.
Unpaid internships become more about personal growth and professional development, bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application.
However, it’s essential to note that the perceived fairness of these internships relies heavily on the structure and support we provide.
A well-defined internship program with clear expectations, mentorship, and opportunities for skill development ensures that interns gain experience that genuinely prepares them for future employment, whether that involves taking on paid positions in coaching or exploring other pathways in related fields.
Ultimately, as a coaching community, fostering a supportive learning environment for interns reflects our commitment to character development-a core principle of judo that transcends sport, building leaders who will not only excel on the mat but also in their future professional endeavors.
Martial Arts Internships Build Character Beyond The Mat
The HR Spotlight team thanks these industry leaders for offering their expertise and experience and sharing these insights.
Do you wish to contribute to the next HR Spotlight article? Or is there an insight or idea you’d like to share with readers across the globe?
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