Why I don't support unpaid internships
I am going to keep this one brief.
DON'T EVER ASK ME TO PROMOTE UNPAID INTERNSHIPS
For the record I have no problem with people who want to go and work for free. Many industries are rife with offering opportunities to work in their companies, add value to their bottom line and not want to put any money in the hands of the young people (and sometimes older too) who can intern there. Many people know this and will still go and work for said companies for exposure, etc.
I think it should also be clear that I sometimes take on students to come and do work experience with me for a week as part of a school programme. In that week I throw them in the deep end of the list of things they have to do that will demonstrate initiative, leadership, project management and teamwork. They work shadow me and get to understand what it is like running my own business and interacting with clients and suppliers. Some of the things I believe they talk a lot about in school and college but don't have much experience of doing in the workplace.
This is very different from internships which can last from anything from four weeks to a year. Where the said person, usually a student/undergraduate/recent graduate will have to cover their own costs of travel and food just to have a name on their CV.
Others have written as to why unpaid internships hamper social mobility. Why unpaid internships make no sense and to be fair there are more nuanced arguments as to why some internships are unpaid or low paid.
That said, whilst I am happy to support and promote internships in the private, public and third sector, I strongly disagree with young minds being asked to add value to organisations and not get paid for it. So don't ask.
Let's discuss.
IT Expert in PR at Czech National Agency for International Education
8 年And the thing is you simply don't get the best people for unpaid interships. You get people who can afford it!
Lecturer, Social Work & Community Development
8 年Am currently working as an intern and it's not paying. We work just to have experience hopping that you will be absorb after some months of the "slave labour", we however still continue to apply for jobs in other orgs and still with the "hope" that now that you've got "experience" they will employ you and pay. We sometimes have no say in this
PhD student in Public Law
8 年Absolutely correct! I intended to apply for many internships to learn from those organisations or re-start career, but with unpaid offer, there was no option. I needed money to survive, so I could not work for them, not have a job, no advance in my career. Just remained at home.
Founder at Truly Reliable HR| Head of People at Quickfire Digital| Ethical Recruitment Hacker and HR Specialist|
8 年I think that work experience for a week when you're still at school and being financially supported by your parents/guardians is acceptable, but I have exceptionally strong opinions on unpaid work- quite frankly, it's slave labor. If you have someone contributing to your organisation, they deserve to be paid. I'm really pleased that at Bureau Veritas we take on paid interns across the UK- Olivia Rennison is one example of an outstanding placement year student in our IT department, and we're on the market for (ha ha) a Marketing Intern elsewhere in our business. Great article.
Opinions are my own, and in no way represent official policy, so careful now. PS, I have NO INTEREST in CRYPTO CURRENCY!
8 年when I started work, unpaid Internships were something on the telly that kids did who wanted to work in the White House, sadly, they seem to be becoming all too prevalent as a way of getting free labour.