You know what? Fuck unpaid internships and the companies that offer them as the only “foot in the door.” This is ridiculous!
I know your companies are great- I know their jobs are great. I have two bachelors degrees and a masters, plus a wealth of pertinent experience for your company, and you have the audacity to suggest I take a 6+ month unpaid internship as “the only way to get a real job in the company?” You’re lucky I don’t come down there and punch you in your g-ddamned face for even suggesting this! Do you realize that the only way someone could afford to do that is to be an “independently wealthy” trust fund baby, which, unsurprisingly, makes up 99% of your smug employees? Do you realize that it’s ludicrous for any business to ask someone to work for free for up to a year for them for the sole purpose of “maybe” getting a job out of it?
Just for clarification in my flying spittle rant, here - I think unpaid summer internships for undergraduate college students are a wonderful thing. They allow kids to get a taste of the real world (before it’s too late to change their major!), build some great experience, references, and contacts. I worked at my share of them in college and had a great time.
I’m referring to companies that offer well- or overqualified adults unpaid “internships” - which mean working a real 40 hr/week job for no pay - as the sole method of getting a job with that company.
I’m having the same hang up (sort of). See, being a teacher means I have to pay the university for 12 credit hours while I’m doing my internship. I’m not supposed to have another job during my internship, ao I have to survive off of my student loan. Plus, I won’t get my first full-time paycheck for another four or five months after I graduate!
The Government which I temped at offers paid internships. Since there’s been a hiring freeze for three-ish years, this is the only way to get a job there unless you’re already really qualified. (Or a temp, and willing to be shit on for small amounts of money and no future whatsoever.)
Number of spaces / number of applications is rumoured to be something like 1 / 800. Seriously, I know people who couldn’t get an interview there, who then got hired by places like the UN …
There was a good article in the NY Times a couple of months ago on the problem of unpaid internships. It ends up meaning that poorer people can’t get their feet in the door. It applies to undergraduate internships as well, as some students need to earn money during the summer. I find this problem to be particularly acute in the nonprofit sector. It’s a real problem that only people with trustfunds can afford to make a career doing nonprofit work (exaggerating somewhat).
Oh, of course. It’s just that there are several companies in my field that I’d really like to work at that offer this as the only way to get a “foot in the door.” It’s infuriating.
You, and probably thousands of others. Ever wonder why they can do this and still fill all positions? If you’re that dedicated, you’ll find a way. I agree it sucks and never understood how they can effectively get slave labor. Another way I’ve seen this work out is for the spouse/SO to work during internship. It can be a budget crunch, but the rewards would be worth it if a person succeeds.
Unpaid internships do suck. I had an 8 month co-op (like an internship, but for a semester and the summer). I wouldn’t have taken it if it wasn’t paid, because I really needed the money. And the contacts I made there probably did help me get a job after graduation.
That fact that you are familar with that term leads me to believe you’ve encountered some. Generally trustafarians are very secretive about their wealth because they want to be down with the common man. I’ve spent the past few years in school with people with trustfunds, so maybe it just seems like the whole world has one but me. I was actually advised by a career counselor at school to work for free after graduation, with no thought given to the fact that that might not be possible. You definitely have to have a few unpaid internships under your belt before you can have a shot at a paid position. Maybe it depends on the type of nonprofit - I’m thinking of civil rights activist types. And I’m in New York.
Oh, I’ve encountered them all right…but in Oxford, where I went to college. AFAIK, none of those folks are in the non-profit world now. And I’m pretty sure that the people I work/ed with don’t fall into that category. I certainly don’t.
Unpaid internships working 40 hours a week during the summer while I was in college would’ve killed my ability to go to college. I relied on that summer income to do things like pay for food and utilities and books and rent during the months I was in school full time and couldn’t work as much.
Thankfully, I found paid internships. Otherwise, I would’ve been sunk. So, yeah, unpaid internships suck.