Tag Archives: Internship

07.30.13
by

VACANCY: UNPAID INTERNSHIPS…EXPERIENCE: 3 YEARS!

Dear sir/madam  anyone whom may have wondered why there has been such a large time frame between now and my last blog post.

I have been putting my every blood, sweat and tear into job hunting and completing the perpetuation that is the  labyrinthine application forms, which leads fittingly into this discussion.

I, like so many of my fellow graduates, and unlike so many others of my fellow graduates, have been working towards my dream career. Or, might I add, a career that simply gives me a sense of worth and accomplishment.  Simultaneous to the work of job hunting and furthermore to fund the job hunt; I am working with bitterness and pure detest in a job I despise with my every vessel I kid you not.

Unfortunately, we are not in the current climate that nurtures graduates through the transition of graduate to junior. Instead we are going from graduate, to volunteer, to intern, to runner, to runner, to intern, to your friend’s aunt Julie gets you to assistant. By this time we’re 35, single, in a flat-share, without an ounce saved up for a mortgage.

Listen up, our CVs have essentially become the coasters, or the folded up table-de-wobblers of our ungrateful slave driving CEOs and it must stop! We are at the bottom of the pile, therefore our rickety raft ticket to the paradise island is undoubtedly, the god-forsaken; Unpaid Internship.

To discuss such a complex and frustratingly layered debate, in mere paragraphs, I aim to be brief and rant-free.

Firstly, I have volunteered, for 6 months, it was great, I’m done. I have done my bit, I am always willing to do my bit, especially when it is an extraordinary opportunity. However, it has been extraordinarily difficult to financially support myself through this time, 6 more months and I’d have been spoon fed by my parents leftovers, my independence was shot!

I believe it should be a law that one must be expected to volunteer no more than one period of time, unless consenting to more in exceptional circumstances. Employers should be punished for expecting said free labour. It is against the law for an unpaid intern or volunteer to carry out duties of an already salaried employee. Lets just say, if someone does the same tasks and receives a salary for it, its time to holla at Rav from Crimewatch! You’re working for criminals.

Now, it is my pleasure to make tea and photocopy, however, I want some of the good stuff too, at the very least to sit in meetings, to listen and learn. After all, is this not what working for free rewards? It is simple really to identify the wrongens and fraudsters of our early careers, simply question; are you shadowing and learning at least, or merely gophering from copier to kettle?

Subsequent to this, the fury that fuels this blog ultimately surrounds the heinousness of these employers’ attitudes and requirements towards candidates. They have the audacity to expect prior experience. When I had read this particular vile advertisement that triggered this debate, I scanned the room for Ashton Kutcher and his camera crew to pop out and Punk’d me! Said runner’s vacancy, to my horror, expected the candidate to have worked in an unpaid runners role for a prior 3 years! Who can live for 4 years on no income, please, step forward!

Finally, don’t get me wrong, I know we’re not living the life of Django before he’s ‘Unchained’. However, advantage is being taken and now is the time to make a change, for the future is bleak. We sacrifice our social lives, our freedom, our independence, our chance to begin building a life, and our ability to not be a burden. All of the above, most importantly, our time is precious, and we are willing to cash it all in for an opportunity to listen and learn and hopefully to input some use for these employers. Is that too much to respect?

Related articles