There are loads of people with horrible experiences as interns but my story is different. I graduated with a history degree from the LSE last year and spent 3 months searching for an entry-level job. I have some work experience but not really a lot and given the economic situation I wasn’t very optimistic. I didn’t apply for any internships because they were mostly unpaid and although my parents proposed to support me financially I decided to try it on my own. I became really desperate and applied for any jobs even those for which I was clearly over-qualified and which, to be honest, I’m quite sure I would have dropped out fast.
Archive for the 'Private Sector' Category
Which? route to take?
Published 03/11/2010 Debate , Employment , Finance , Private Sector 1 CommentTags: london internships, which? internships, graduate jobs
Surely this is illegal? Or The Intern Industry keeps growing…
Published 06/24/2009 Debate , Employment , Polemic , Private Sector 2 CommentsIt should come as no surprise that in the same month that thousands of graduates are jettisoned from university into a fierce recession companies like ‘InternStar’ are being launched. Their reason for being: to find unpaid work experience for graduates without any prospect of work/ to find cheap labour for struggling businesses.
“InternStar connects quality interns to internship opportunities in small- and medium-sized British businesses with exclusive access to some of the most ambitious and talented university candidates, young graduates and postgraduates.”
Continue reading ‘Surely this is illegal? Or The Intern Industry keeps growing…’
Work experience and internships are not just about adding that bit of glamour to your CV, or networking your way into a cushy graduate job. The benefits of meeting new people because they might be nice – rather than they might offer you a job are completely bypassed in the panic to prove yourself in the job market.
The UK finds itself in the grips of a recession which shows no sign of passing any time soon and so businesses must ask themselves: is it the right time to use interns?
Continue reading ‘Interns and business during the recession’
Though I understand what motivates skilled graduates to take unpaid work, and that NGOs, the public sector, private companies (and pretty much everyone these days) take on interns to produce results within tight budgets, I believe that if these employers genuinely can’t afford to pay all of their workers they should face up to their fate and either downsize or go under! If not, they should be paying workers according to the law at national minimum wage. Continue reading ‘A wage for all workers’
I am an employer. I own a business. I pay all the people who work for me. I pay for everything I use in my business. I do not expect, or get, any charity or any free handouts from anyone. Ever.
Well it was only a matter of time. After all, if politicians and policy units and think tanks and newspapers can take advantage of people’s willingness – and need – to work for free, why shouldn’t private companies? After all, ability to pay interns never put MPs off making them work for free, so why should it bother profit-driven corporations?
