Interns Anonymous » Jobs

Internships are, like, so cool

internsanonymous — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:32:35 +0000

After watching Avatar lots of people got depressed because they weren’t living on the beautiful planet Pandora, where God is a lovely tree and everyone is giant and blue. Aside from a few hopefuls who got naked and ‘blued up’- the rest of us got on with living in our own weird world. Just how weird is demonstrated in news such as this – Kanye West and Lady Gaga want to be interns – and more generally ‘posh work experience is “the 21st-century answer to the old-school Season”’. All the rich kids want it, and more importantly all the rich kids can get it off their Dad. Rather than coming out as a debutante with your own personal ball, summers are spent making coffee in an office. Eh??

This change is noticeable – internships are often viewed as more desirable than actual paid jobs. I’ve never been seduced by this PR, and coincidentally, have never watched The Hills, Gossip Girl and all the other programmes that feature really fit interns – oh yeah, also The West Wing, and let’s not forget the Daddy of them all – the Bill Clinton – Monica Lewinsky saga.

Read all about it here and here, and here.

I miss the 90s

Paid internships, graduates needed

internsanonymous — Wed, 26 May 2010 10:45:37 +0000

We don’t often put adverts on the site… but Thames Valley University are offering PAID placements for Graduates, so we thought we better tell you about it.

8 week placements, at places like O2… for £200 a week. Check out the flyer here.

Jobs in Journalism

internsanonymous — Thu, 13 May 2010 16:21:08 +0000

To complement our post below… we are going to link to an article on the careers advice website Graduate Fog. ‘How to get a job in journalism?’… even if you can’t afford to work for free.

See here.

Just say thank you

internsanonymous — Wed, 12 May 2010 15:18:28 +0000

There’s a shrine in the corner of my room, a collection of passes from all the newspapers I’ve ever done work experience in. I used to flick through them, trying to remember what I learned from each placement: how they’ve moulded me into a better reporter, the silly mistakes, the small triumphs. I used to be proud of them: they were trophies which marked the weeks of unpaid toil. Used to.

I’ve been trying to be a journalist since I was 17. I’m now 22. That’s five years of friends tolerating my idiosyncratic habit of reading five different national newspapers every day, and spending my summers and holidays in newsrooms (invariably without windows, why is that?).

But guess what? Trying hurts. I’m not going to stop, but it hurts. Work experience hurts. “Internships” hurt.

Rejections hurt. You will get rejected – knocked back, even for free work, as well as graduate schemes and jobs. Heartfelt emails will go unanswered, submissions ignored or outright declined (It took me a week to get over the first “No. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device”). If you’re trying to be a journalist, chances are at some point you’ll have your heart broken by a newspaper.

It happens, it’s your job to take it on the chin, and pick yourself up and try again. I knew that, I know that, but I just want them to acknowledge that it hurts. I want them to remember what it was like for them (and sometimes, some reporters to) – that all the young people out there trying to do this like me, well, I think we’re terrified.

It’s not that I’m terrible. If anything I’m quite good – sadly, not brilliant, not outstanding, but a hard worker and intelligent and capable. But being quite good just isn’t enough more. So, I tried to get better; shorthand, media law, a post-graduate course in journalism after getting my undergraduate degree (first class, not that that has helped my chances), plus months and months of more work experience and freelance work (also unpaid). Answering to the name of “work experience girl”, begging to be allowed to do vox pops in sub-zero temperatures, hunting for stories all the time, making endless cups of tea. All the while, blogging and tweeting and networking and doing coursework and seeing friends and trying to salvage some sense of who I am – me, the person, not the unpaid intern who’s ignored by almost everyone except the male (often married) reporters who can leer at you with no fear, because you will never complain about it, you’re too junior. And, all the while, smiling.

Trying. Trying is fucking exhausting.

The problem is, there are a lot of quite good people like me. Newsdesks, editors, the people who you might be doing free work for – they know this too. And to them, I think we’re all the same. So this isn’t a horror story from any particular internship, it’s a plea. Remember that I am, that we are, human beings. That we have hopes and dreams and desires and actually, really want to do this, or we wouldn’t be here.

Remember, the reason I’m not rushing over to the newsdesk every five minutes with 20 ideas is probably because I emailed you with some two hours ago, and you still haven’t replied, or because my self-worth has been so compromised by months of unpaid work that I’m too terrified to try anymore because I no longer have the emotional capacity to handle it if you say “no.”

So, a plea to remember we’re human, from me, on behalf of all interns everywhere who might feel like me, on behalf of all the people out there who are still trying and will carry on trying. Please, say thank you. And if you don’t want to say thank you, just acknowledge the emotional effort that we put into it, look us in the eye and remember we’re human, like you. We’re brave, you’ve got to be brave to try and become a journalist now (or maybe just incredibly stubborn.)

Sick of this SHIT

internsanonymous — Wed, 05 May 2010 14:35:46 +0000

First of all I would like to say this website is great….for a not so great situation… well I have resorted to lying on my CV because I don’t understand how in order to be accepted on a internship I have to have ’6 months experience’ when no one is giving me any experience. Don’t get me wrong I do have some experience but I’m in a catch 22 situation because I REFUSE to do any more unpaid work experience. I am a 22 year old woman who has graduated from University not a 16 year old who has no idea of what it’s like to work in an office.

I am looking for EVERYTHING but still can’t get anywhere. When you get rejected for a Sales Assistant job in Boots you know times are hard. I have been to job courses, had my CV checked over a million times, but still getting pipped to the post…

However, I am really pissed off with one PR agency (time for a career in social work you say..?) basically I had an interview with the head of the department I was applying for and with another manager of some sort and after the interview I asked: “when will I be told of the outcome of the interview”. They said “within a week”… um it’s now been about a month. Within that time I phoned one of them who was conveniently ‘in a meeting’ and even spoke to a HR manager and was told they would get back to me so basically they are fobbing me off. I refuse to let this go because this is not the first time this has happened to me and I think it is highly RUDE the way I’ve been treated.

Regardless the search still continues but I think I’m through with this…need a career change ASAP! (i.e. where the money is at) I feel like University is one big rip off… we have all been conned… They are stooping us to unthinkable measures (i.e. Vicky Harrisson) Something needs to change……
I don’t even know what to do because I’m living with my mum rent free and I feel awful because I know she is struggling and feel like I should be doing something to help but no one wants to give me a job… I even tried to sign up with an agency (by the way I am signed up to 5 in which no one gives a shit) which was for admin work… they told me flatly I need 6 months experience to a years experience. I don’t understand because admin work can be done with your eyes closed…not exactly brain surgery….but I just don’t know anymore….I’m surprised I am not a crack addict/alcoholic yet…..it has been too long now… *sigh*