Firstly I would like to say it is brilliant that you are highlighting this issue. I graduated in 2008 and since then have had no solid offer of a permanent full time job.
So far I have done FIVE internships – in which none of them have led to a full time job. However on the upside I was fortunate enough to be paid £6.00 an hour to work. However I didn’t get my travel expenses paid, sick pay or overtime. My travel expenses came to around £200 a month which ate up half my wage anyway.
In my last internship I felt so degraded and lost quite a bit of confidence in my abilities during it: The employer promised me after the internship had been completed that he would give me a full time job – however when that time came he just extended my internship. I would be doing the regular admin work which I expect to do but then I was also washing the tea cups every morning, cleaning tables and even hoovering! I was even critised as having no attention to detail because I didn’t clean a cup properly. I was also helping other employees if they needed things doing along with getting on with my own work – then my employer asked why I wasn’t asking to help the other employees more. I looked after all the technical side of things in the office as the other employees wanted to stay dumb to it and when I had done a piece of work the employer changed his mind and I had to redo it all. Thankfully I left the internship but before I left my employer said that I should be able to take critism and I probably would never get a job. As he was also a well known figure I came off worse and was seen as being ungrateful for leaving the internship.
I know the blog is about unpaid interns – but being paid just over minimum wage is just as bad. You feel grateful that you’ve got something that pays but when you are treated like you know nothing you feel is it really worth it? But then you also have to think ‘well it’s money’ and you just go around in circles.
What is even more annoying is I am still applying for full time jobs – jobs that I know that I could do with one hand behind my back and the feedback I get (if any) when I don’t even reach the interview stage is “sorry, you don’t have enough experience.” I have absolutely no idea what else I can do to prove to them that I have experience and all they need to do is give me a chance. I’ve spoken to almost all my careers advisors at uni and the government’s career advice and all of them are drawing a blank on what to suggest.
I do think that interns get exploited – it’s not only employers that have to think about money but I need to as well, I want to start settling down and not having to worry if I will have a job at the end of the day.
0 Responses to “Still waiting”