Guest post – Are internships just cheap labour?
Are internships just cheap labour?
As we all know, there is a glut of graduates fresh from university, ready to take on the world and the workplace but have nowhere to go, so they turn to internships hoping that in 3-6 months they will be rewarded with a job for all their hard work…the word ‘naïve’ springs to mind.
It seems that since the recession hit, businesses are turning to internships to fill the employment gap. But cynical as it might sound I have trouble deciding – are internships just cheap labour?
I recently had the misfortune to experience an internship with a small fashion pr company, although my situation being different from that of a graduate (i.e. I am currently employed full time and can only work for a short period of time), I wanted to expand my skill set and gain some industry experience.
I arrive on my first day, the woman who I secured the internship with wasn’t even in the office – that should have been my first clue – another intern showed me round the main office then took me through the showroom to what could only be described as a cupboard with a desk, an ancient computer and barely working printer shoved into it. He then surveyed the area like a king looking over his kingdom and said with enthusiasm “this is where the interns sit!” Shocked doesn’t even come close!
He showed me the ropes, one computer programme to be precise, and left me to it. Sending out clothes to magazine shoots, creating delivery notes, and booking clothes back in is only fascinating for so long…great, that’s learnt – what next?
But nothing came next. This was it. I would spend my time bagging up clothes and writing address labels. When was I going to learn what a Fashion PR Account Manager actually does? Well, never. Even when my mentor did arrive, the conversation was as follows:
Mentor: “who are you?”
Me: “I’m Tiffany, starting my internship today, I’ve learnt the following…..”
Mentor: “Right”
That my friends, was all the contact I had with her for the next 3 days.
I couldn’t take anymore and chose not to return.
The long and short of it is – I was bored! Not to mention disappointed. I had been so excited for the opportunity to witness first hand people working in an industry I am thinking of moving into, and I got nothing.
I feel angry for people who do this for months on end, with their only reward being their travel expenses paid. There’s got to be something better than this?
And, maybe there is. I cannot base my whole theory of internships on one very very bad experience, but I’ve yet to hear anything different.
Internships should be challenging, fun, and eye-opening, helping you to decide if this is the career path you want to choose and if not teaching you some new skills and giving you new experiences.
There must be companies out there who take time to teach and impart their knowledge on people that could be the future of their industry, but I have a nagging feeling that cheap labour with no commitments is a far easier option to take.
P.S: I sent in an email to thank the company for the opportunity, while explaining why it wasn’t right for me and why I decided to terminate the internship. I have yet to receive a response. Point proven….
Tiffany Sabrina Hamilton-Atkins
@tiffanysabrina
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