Unpaid internships
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The government is set to ban the advertising of unpaid internships:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/dec/04/ban-unpaid-internship-adverts
While this is just the advertising, and not actual practise of, it looks as though there's growing support for internships to be paid. What are your thoughts on unpaid internships? Just something people have to put up with to get into their career choice? Exploitive labour?
I did almost two years of internships, mostly unpaid in journalism and then later publishing. The unpaid ones were mainly awful - long hour without breaks, acting as a skivvy and not actually learning much. One internship which I had for six months was pretty much a full time role, that would have been a paid job if I hadn't had done it for free.The paid ones were a lot better, as the company would invest in you more and you could take things from it. I'd say 90% of the other interns I worked with were very well off with their parents supporting them. I worked every night and weekend to be able to afford to pay my rent and food, and it was exhausting, but it was something I had to do in order to get a job I wanted. Most of the other interns who weren't wealthy ended up quitting because they couldn't even afford to get to work.
What are your thoughts on unpaid internships? Just something people have to put up with to get into their career choice? Exploitive labour?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/dec/04/ban-unpaid-internship-adverts
While this is just the advertising, and not actual practise of, it looks as though there's growing support for internships to be paid. What are your thoughts on unpaid internships? Just something people have to put up with to get into their career choice? Exploitive labour?
I did almost two years of internships, mostly unpaid in journalism and then later publishing. The unpaid ones were mainly awful - long hour without breaks, acting as a skivvy and not actually learning much. One internship which I had for six months was pretty much a full time role, that would have been a paid job if I hadn't had done it for free.The paid ones were a lot better, as the company would invest in you more and you could take things from it. I'd say 90% of the other interns I worked with were very well off with their parents supporting them. I worked every night and weekend to be able to afford to pay my rent and food, and it was exhausting, but it was something I had to do in order to get a job I wanted. Most of the other interns who weren't wealthy ended up quitting because they couldn't even afford to get to work.
What are your thoughts on unpaid internships? Just something people have to put up with to get into their career choice? Exploitive labour?
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I don't mind that it was for no pay, to be honest. Some may say it's exploitive, but I never felt as though I was exploited. It was a lot of research, but it was pretty fun.
I never wanted the money, I just did it for the experience and I'm grateful for that.
I met so many random people and learnt so much obscure legal knowledge that you'd never get in a classroom, it was worth it.
I think that a good apprenticeship turns a 16 year old boy into a man by providing gradually increasing responsibility and many role models.
I believe that an Internship aimed at post graduates should be modeled on an apprenticeship but without the day release.
http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1767942
they should be banned.
Ditto. Longterm unpaid internships suck, and are a despicable practice. It means that mostly only privileged young people can ever get a foot in the door. And when you factor in that often the interns are just treated as general dogsbodies and don't really get to practice the advanced skills they need to develop enough, I think they're not really worth the effort. I think some internships are genuine though, especially if they include a minimum wage or at the very least coverage of travel expenses.
At the end of the day, if you work, you should be entitled to some pay. Internships are not volunteering schemes!
The fashion industry is notorious for their unpaid internships, I've known people who are pattern-cutters, embroiderers etc, who are literally making entire collections for designers, working 12+ hours in the run up to shows, and yet aren't even getting travel expenses. These are full time jobs that people have to train for and have expertise and skill in, and it's taking paid work away from them.
I think the figure for young people having to complete a internships before getting a paid job is something like 20% up from just 1-2% in the 1960s. It's come to be expected that you'll work for a few months/years for free before you get a 'proper job'.
It would take some work to come up with a workable system that would enable this strategy without being too onerous to administer.
At the company I used to work at, the arrival of interns was greeted with a mixture of contempt and dread because of how much they slowed the work down, so it's completely wrong to say that interns are used as free labour when their presence is more of a hinderance than a help, or that they replace paid staff when they rarely do anything more than photocopying. In my experience, most interns were grateful for the experience of learning skills in an industry they intended to work in.
Obviously there are unscrupulous companies that exploit labour, but to be honest the only companies that are able to do that are ones who are taking on interns to teach about packing boxes in factories or stacking shelves - any anyone who takes such an internship really needs their head examined.
http://www.w4mpjobs.org/JobDetails.aspx?jobid=37861
http://www.w4mpjobs.org/JobDetails.aspx?jobid=37850
http://www.w4mpjobs.org/JobDetails.aspx?jobid=37825
http://www.w4mpjobs.org/JobDetails.aspx?jobid=37824
http://www.w4mpjobs.org/JobDetails.aspx?jobid=37800
http://www.w4mpjobs.org/JobDetails.aspx?jobid=37737
http://www.w4mpjobs.org/JobDetails.aspx?jobid=37657
http://www.w4mpjobs.org/JobDetails.aspx?jobid=37554
http://www.w4mpjobs.org/JobDetails.aspx?jobid=37512
Please note I am not picking on one party or two parties by highlighting these adverts. There were at least as many labour advertisements offering the same thing. However they have mysteriously disappeared.
Can I ask which industry you work in?
Some internships are just making tea and photocopying. But I've done plenty where I've been expected to write full press releases, liaise with clients and press, arrange promotional tours, come up with marketing plans etc. and did little less than I do now I'm in a full time job. Like I said, in fashion you're expected to make full collections, so you are taking paid jobs away from pattern-cutters, machinists, seamstresses etc.
My internships were all in fashion/media, so I don't know how it works in other industries.