Written by Maddy Fry | 23 June 2011
Posted in Comment - Britain

Tollbooth. Artwork: Annie Erskine                 

I sit here in a shabby and over-heated office in north London, having arrived 45 minutes after I was meant to due to oversleeping. My boss, quite frankly, couldn’t care less – in fact yesterday he was asleep in his chair by three in the afternoon. I rather wish I was granted the same privilege. The employees across the desk are too busy to chat, and so the hours crawl by, largely filled by 4od, iPlayer and YouTube to ease the tedium. No matter how many assignments I’m given to work on, somehow my drive is sapped from knowing it could all lead to nothing. This is coupled with the fact that my immediate superior seems disinterested in giving me feedback for anything I’ve written, probably because he knows he doesn’t have to. Welcome to the life of an intern.

Boredom, fatigue and an absence of payment seem to be compulsory elements of most internships. Getting up on time seems less of an imperative when you know full well things will carry on the same without you, and even less so with the knowledge you won’t be paid. God knows what it’s like for interns who are actually required to do anything. The cushiest positions seem to be the ones that cover your transport and lunch costs – an idea unheard of for the previous generation, where it was rarely assumed those in their 20s had the time or financial means to work for free.

Alas, if you happen to be an aspiring journalist/charity worker/researcher/lawyer/almost anything, this is a necessary process. Most companies demand vast amounts of voluntary work as a pre-condition for an interview. This is despite the fact that many take interns themselves and know full well how often they are left to languish behind their laptops, whiling away the hours on Facebook - unsurprisingly because real work is reserved for those the company is willing to pay. Most businesses know this will have been the reality for those they interview – yet still they insist on those few magic lines on a CV. Waterstones already advertises books telling companies how they can save costs by relegating menial jobs to unpaid lackeys. More high-minded authors counter them with outraged tracts about the unfairness of ‘the internship culture’ and how close it is to indentured slavery.

Ok, I’m being hyperbolic. But hey, it’s 10.30 in the morning and I need entertainment. Thankfully, TSJ offers an appropriate outlet – and maybe the editor will give me a cookie, or ten shiny pennies (not meant as a personal attack on the hard-working folks at TSJ, more as a shared joke between myself and a friend interning at a law firm. He was meant to get £10 a day to cover expenses, and 2 weeks later they have yet to cough up. Thankfully he’s doing the right degree for that sort of thing – watch this space).

I’m also aware how in these troubled times many students and graduates would kill for anything that could bolster their CVs, unpaid or otherwise. It’s a sad situation when not only waged but voluntary positions, which companies and charities in theory have unlimited space for, require a resume several miles long. Only trouble is getting to this position involves previous, often unattainable, experience – and so forth. The vicious circle goes on.

What’s more, the fact that myself and my trainee lawyer friend just a few miles south are apparently so privileged gets to the heart of what is so very wrong with the culture of unpaid internships. I am here and not waiting on tables or getting a proper job because I have sympathetic parents. A lot of people don’t. Whether or not every 20-something’s family should cough up for them to do work experience that has no guarantee of reaping dividends is a different issue. Yet for people who cannot afford to work for free, this means the likelihood of getting into the most popular industries is limited. Such a process feeds social inequality, as it ensures for the most part that areas like journalism or the charity sector are closed to those without well-off forebears.

I’m not against internships per se; getting experience of how different companies work can be insightful and interesting, and a constructive way to spend time outside of studying. Giving one’s time up for free is also very commendable in areas like the charity sector. Yet interning should only be so integral to accessing a person’s ideal career if it is open to all. Doing so would mean at least providing the minimum wage. Not paying interns means some are ruthlessly overworked and exploited, and on the flipside that companies take more people than they need, making the experience dull and unsatisfying.

The bottom line is that few companies would expect people in their 40s or 50s to work for free. Therefore they should stop patronising those under 30 by assuming we would all be happy to work unwaged. We may not have mortgages and kids yet, but we still need to pay the rent.

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