Of all the obstacles to getting a job after university, the biggest is probably experience. It’s an age-old problem: the graduate wants a job in the field that he or she trained for, but companies are wary of hiring someone who’s never held a job before. Hiring fresh graduates means spending money training them not just to do this specific job, but also in the basics of professional behavior. This problem is especially noticeable in periods of high unemployment, when experienced workers are competing for positions that would otherwise be free for entry-level graduates.
To avoid the experience trap, students often seek out internships. Chances are that anyone working in the media has been tempted to go this route, and the practice can now be found in fields like banking and law. Sure, it means working without pay, but plenty of students are willing to sacrifice a paycheck now for exposure and contacts that will pay off later. And employers are attracted to internships because they’re essentially risk-free: when a paid employee leaves, the time and money invested in him or her leaves too. No such danger exists with interns.
But growing numbers of people, particularly in the US, are objecting to the spread of internships. There are many reasons for complaint: for one, interns often aren’t covered by laws against unpaid overtime or sexual harassment. Another charge holds that unpaid internships aren’t practical for students whose families can’t afford to support them while they work without pay and with no guarantee of future employment. Fields in which people are expected to do internships before getting a paid job are therefore biased toward affluent graduates. Then there’s the accusation that using interns as free labour cheapens the work of all employees, effectively driving down overall wages.
That’s not to say that there’s no value to internships. But if you’re getting into one, you need to make sure it’s worth your time. The Guardian has some great tips for interns that you can check out here. Among them: try to talk the employer into paying you for your work, since paid internships are statistically more likely to lead to a job later. Get a written internship agreement so that future employers will know what your responsibilities were and what you learned. Above all, remember that an internship is supposed to be for your benefit, not the company’s. If you feel like you’re being used, don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself.
What do you think? Have you been an intern in the past, and was it a positive or a negative experience? If you’re an employer, have you hired or would you hire interns?
