Kasia Drinkwater, FXU VP Participation, has proposed a new policy for FXU against longer-term unpaid internships which will be discussed and voted on in the UGM. What do you think about it? Do you think it’s unfair to expect a student/graduate to work unpaid? Does it depend on the time period? Is it just something you have to do to gain experience? Share your expectations and experiences of unpaid internships in the comments section below.
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I have previously undertaken a few unpaid internships that also formed part of my degree. These are an invaluable for network building in the arts. Unpaid internships may seem different to Exeter and Falmouth courses and it is completely down to an individual to decide whether it is important to work for free or not. My main unpaid internship was on the central production team for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. There was not a paid position available but the experience and contacts made here were invaluable by a price. I would like to understand if this policy is passed what impact it will have on FXU students taking on longer unpaid internships?
I’ve undertaken loads of unpaid work since starting my degree, and coming from a working background still have not considered it to be a problem. It has provided useful training, rounded experience that I would be unlikely to get if I expected to be paid. Lab & field experience is especially important (I’m studying Conservation Biology & Ecology) and helps me stand out from the crowd. However, I can understand in some disciplines how expected long-term internships can cause problems. For example I think it unfair for politics students to be expected to work unpaid, full-time in central London on long term placements. This ensures a bias towards wealthy individuals that are able to cover their own living costs and prevents lower-income students getting onto the job ladder.
We’ve had some great comments over on our Facebook page too. Check out Dan’s comment below
Dan Parvaz:
“Hypothetically speaking, businesses can:
-Choose to employ one person, with full company benefits, who does the roles that several part time/temporary interns would do.
One person gets experience.
-Take on several unpaid interns to do the jobs that other staff would otherwise have to do, generally menial tasks, paying nothing, or expenses only.Paid staff are free to generate more work/revenue.
Several people get work experience. Company is in the same place.
Granted, there are some that will exploit this, as is the corporate world.
I agree that unpaid internships are akin to slave labour, but in a market with too many graduates and not enough jobs, would your rather work for free and get experience, or scrabble around for what few jobs there are? In a system where a company will only take a chance and employ someone with experience, and the only way to get experience is to work for free for a while, what would you choose?”
https://www.facebook.com/FXUnion?ref=hl
1. Hi James,
Thanks for your comments. I’m glad that you have experience of an unpaid internship that is positive and beneficial to you. Sounds like a really exciting one and well done for getting onto it. The reality is however that unpaid internships are actually viewed as illegal by HMRC, and are a subject area under great discussion and contestation by numerous pressure groups and within parliament at the moment. Unpaid internships have no official definition and as a result encompass a wide number of roles; as a result employers sometimes exploit this ambiguity by suggesting that work experience is more worthwhile than getting a wage. With current economic pressures more and more students are feeling the necessity, and rightly so, of taking on extra experiences and gaining relevant skills from work placements. I’m not debating the relevance of work experience, but more the fact that when they are over 4 weeks and unpaid they become problematic. There is a real concern that employers are seeing internships as a way to gain free labour, and with only 10% of under 35s who have heard of internships knowing their rights, and knowing they are illegal, this is a harsh reality.
This is certainly a topic I believe is worth discussing and of particular relevance to the FXU; there are numerous unpaid internships on offer in competitive industries like media, arts, law and politics where there is an oversupply of graduates and an undersupply of paid employment opportunities. These industries relate to subjects studied by students of both institutions on our campuses. I don’t want to take away from the importance and the benefits of volunteer work and short term work experience, but I hope to differentiate between these and longer term, exploitative unpaid internships. The FXU has a strong commitment to equality of opportunity to all it’s members, rendering this policy of high relevance and importance.
Unpaid internships can block social mobility and prevent working classes from accessing opportunities because they can’t afford to live self-sustained with no income in order to better their career.
I’m not suggesting we scrap internships at all; and that isn’t what the policy suggests. In fact it notes how valuable internships are and notes that they offer relevant experience, allow opportunities to take on responsibility and further a student’s career. It’s main point is recognising that unpaid internships OVER four weeks long are unfair, and actually deemed illegal, but this is just not regulated. It aims to lobby the institutions to ensure the opportunities they are advertising are all fair and accessible to all. it also resolves to produce guidelines on part time work, work experience, volunteering and internships, informing students of their rights. It also reinstates the importance of making opportunities more accessible to students, highlighting the long term benefits to graduate employability, and encouraging volunteer work as a way of developing employability.
Hope this answers some of your questions; I’m conscious my writing is getting extremely long!
let me know if there’s anything I didn’t address!
thanks
Hi Lindsay,
I completely agree about the London based internships; that is part of the motivation for the policy. For designers, history student, politics students it is often seen as a right of passage to go off to london and do a placement.
There are plenty of fantastic opportunities and graduate placements out there which really do lend themselves as a stepping stone into a graduate job. This policy is mainly aimed to spread awareness of those who don’t do that, and who effectively use graduates as a means of free labour in the company, with no intention of giving a job afterwards. I’m not targetting shorter term internships; I understand that these are opportunities which are very frequently taken up and can really buffer up your CV. It’s also more accessible, as you can save up to sustain yourself during the few weeks you go to your placements. This is aimed at placements over four weeks, which really can be block social mobility, and restrict students from certain working classes being able to access placements and have the same opportunities as those from wealthier families. It’s also unfair on the student to be expected to fill a role in a company, albeit for 4 weeks, and not get any gain for their time, and more importantly it’s illegal. I’m really keen on ensuring that all students know their rights, understand the difference between volutneering, short term placements and longer term internships, and know who to contact if they feel they have been mistreated.