When I graduated with a 2:1 journalism degree last year, like any over-zealous graduate, I couldn't wait to get my name out into the work force. However, after months of empty responses and job rejections emails, I began to realise that my lack of experience was a major hinderance for employers. It was then that I began to consider the idea of doing an internship. After all, weren't internships the best way to gain experience?
Quite quickly, I discovered that securing an internship was to be anything but plain sailing. Firstly, I immediately had to discount all job bridge internships having been deemed illegible to apply. Under the job bridge scheme, intern applicants must have been unemployed for at least three months and currently claiming social welfare. With job bridge internships, applicants are paid €50 a week on top of their dole payment. While this is a pathetic reward for a 40 hour working week, it's sadly still more than most employers are willing to pay their interns.
Having scoured the internet for opportunities, I eventually came across a Dublin startup that was advertising for a journalism and communications intern. The position was only for one month so I figured that another few weeks of being out of pocket wouldn't make much difference. Thankfully, the people I worked with were lovely which led to a great experience. I wrote and published articles, learned about social media analytics, and even dabbled in photoshop. While I wasn't paid, my lunch and transport costs were reimbursed. Unfortunately though, I was unable to stay on.
While still in the process of completing this internship, I applied for another one in a well known Irish publication. During the application process, I was asked to answer a number of questions about myself and was also given the task of drafting a dummy 300 word article. It was only after I had done all of this that I was told that the six month internship was unpaid. Between lunch and transport costs, I calculated that it would have cost me around €2,000 to complete this internship. With my head in my hands, I reluctantly declined the offer of an interview. Although I would've loved to work for this magazine, I just couldn't justify the heavy financial costs that I would likely incur.
Today, much of the debate around unpaid internships tends to settle on the idea that they are designed for the privileged among us, those whose wealthy parents can afford to fund such a costly endeavour.
But here's the thing. I am one of those "lucky ones" who still lives at home. I too, have parents who earn enough to pay me through a 6 month internship should I wish. But I don't want that for myself, and moreover, I don't want that for my parents. I'm in my twenties now, and it's time that I learned to pay my way. That's why I have put my dream of being a journalist on hold and took a paid position doing administration. How long for? Well that all depends on whether or not the media industry improves its employment prospects for young people. While my current job isn't exactly a long term solution, I have money for clothes, for food, and for doing things that I love. And that's really all young people want. It's not a lot, but it's what we need.
As someone who has completed an unpaid internship, I believe that they should only last a few weeks in duration unless the intern is being paid for their time. In addition, interns should be treated with as much care and respect as an employee, and at the very least, expenses should be covered. This is what needs to happen if young people are to restore their faith in an industry that has too often failed them.
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