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I’m glad to see this website. I graduated last year, and I cannot believe that it is expected, demanded even, that I work unpaid before getting a ‘proper’ job. I’m not a naive graduate who expected to walk into any job, but I equally did not expect my degree to appear so worthless to employers. It’s common sense that you get what you pay for in life, and when employers won’t pay (yet expect people to work full time jobs) they have to expect half-arsed staff putting in the minimum. Treat me fairly (ie. pay me a wage, doesn’t have to be great, I’m not greedy) and the effort I put in will be reciprocal.
Unfortunately all this is the result of too many graduates chasing too few jobs. A badly managed education policy of successive governments. Keen to push kids off to university with no long term plan for us afterwards. Employers know this and exploit the situation.
Seems like a good idea – can you tell me more about the doc though?
It is going to be a short campaigning film, we will use it to get press interest, spread the word, inspire comment, create a buzz…and will then look to develop a longer more detailed piece pending funds
They’re all whingers.
Hello,
Is this the website set up by Alex Try? I read about it in the Daily Mail’s article ‘The slave labour graduates’ and completely agree with the whole thing. I’m so glad the Daily Mail has highlighted how us graduates are being exploited!! it’s disgusting.
I am looking for a job at the moment, but most of the positions I see are internships, asking for you to basically replace a member of staff off on holiday for free! or to to be the office skyvvy.
The labour party is encouraging this exploitation because it keeps the unemployment numbers down. It’s completely hypercritical for the traditional worker’s party to approve of this abuse. They are fully aware that debt ridden graduates are being exploited, and tap businesses on the back for having internships instead of providing paid employment. I don’t understand why there is a minimum wage when employers are getting away with not paying a penny to full-time workers!! This country is a joke! Certainly the sick man of Europe.
They paint a dream to A level students: “go Uni and get a degree, it’s the ticket to a high flying job”.
What a lie! you are better off getting work experience because that is what employers want. The girls I went to school with, who got their A`levels and went straight into work, are the ones who are now in secure, well paid jobs. I have friends with Masters who are now doing internships, working for practically nothing.
An internship is a foot in the door if it is seriously improving your skills and training you up for a job in the end.
But these internships seem to have gone out the window and you certainly don’t expect employers to treat you like an idiot when you’ve achieved the best you can in education, written arm length essays with complex analyses and were taught by some of the UK’s most intellectual beings!
I loved my degree course and meeting all my friends at uni. I didn’t expect to get a high flying job after graduating but I did expect to get a paid job!
sorry, wrote that in a hurry, ignore the mistakes.
Guys, I am interning at Inspiring Interns. They guys here are really helpful and they have tonnes of great internships- I get to see the ones about to get posted…
The interns here work for 3 months, expenses paid, and 9/10 evolve into full-time paid jobs.
No tea making. Just thrown in the deep end.
It’s less competitive than applying for an graduate trainee scheme or for a paid job, say on Reed- because they usually require experience. Check us out if you like. Won’t bite. Promise ;-)
Ah Marie, but it’s still working for three months, expenses only. Don’t you have rent to pay? How about food? Seeing your friends and generally having a life? How can you do any of that if you’re working 9-6 everyday for free.
Sorry but that’s just not an option for many many people in this country and the fact that they’re expected to, for months at a time is disgusting.
How do we put pressure on the government to really sit up and take notice of this widespread problem? It’s been happening for years and something needs to be done.
Hi Emma, I completely agree with you. I’ve been really lucky and supported by my parents but unfortunately with the stiff competition in the grad job market now, I see it as one of the only options open to me at the mo…
I think lots of money is being pumped into paid university internships by the government but they are relatively few and far between. We’re trying to supply internships because there is a large demand there.
Its a shame that graduates in the UK have to go through this. I’ve been there before you need experience but you need to be paid for your rent, travel and time, help and etc it certainly helps if you have family or live in London like myself its a very grey area!
Some employers are changing the way they take on interns doing paid interships but these are mainly the big players etc but it still few in number.
I gradauted in 2002 in film and video and have struggled since, mainly because ive always refused to work for free despite the media industry being one of the pioneers of exploiting graduates. This all stems back to when the government started their egalitarian policies and making everyone feel they can be a graduate and earn lots of money. But no one ever thought what would happen when you take something rare and make it common, it loses its value. This is typical left wing policies by sucessive governments and their desperation to be fair, but like most left wing policies, they mean well but end up as total disasters.
Its up to graduates to say no and not perpetuate this culture because the employers are quite clearly exploited a jobs market flooded by graduates. I cant believe the government are still promoting univesity to people knowing full well in 3 years their oppotunities are non existant.
As for me personally, i would of been better off going to a tv company at 16 and saying that ill make tea and mop the floors, because after graduating at 22, i was asked to do exactly the same thing.