I’ve just been sent a link to a great opportunity – an internship with the media and communications department at a famous theatre. It’s for four months, I’m qualified and I think I possess the skills and enthusiasm they’re looking for. Fantastic.
Except for a few little details; it’s in central London (I live in Portsmouth), it’s 32 hours a week (some of which may be “out of office hours”), and it’s unpaid. No travel pay, no expenses. Which poses a problem.
Now, I know a lot has been said in the media recently about unpaid internships and work experience. The people doing the internships say it’s only fair that they be compensated in some way for their work – which is true.
The people offering them say that the ‘newbies’ should be grateful for the experience, and should be happy to work for free to get a foot in the door – which is, unfortunately, also true. But the sad truth is that, however much we may like the look of what you’re offering, very few of us can afford to work for free.
As far as I am concerned, no one that I know would be unwilling to take an unpaid position, if it was a good opportunity. The problem is that we are unable.
Let’s look at the example above. Travel between London and Portsmouth costs, say £30 a day, if we want to include railcards and Tube fares. So travel alone to get to this wonderful opportunity of a ‘job’ would cost me £120 a week. Even if I went to live with my parents in London for those four days and only had to pay Tube fares, it would still be £10 or so a week, and I would still be paying rent on my place down here.
Moving to London is not, in my case, an option at this moment, but it would be a fairly expensive undertaking if it was. And I would have no income whatsoever for four months.
And we all have other expenses besides travel, let’s face it. Office clothes are something that most recent graduates need to acquire. Phone contracts, subscriptions etc also all add up. And we’re still earning £0 a month. So these are all sums of money going out that are not coming back in. We are, to coin a phrase, haemorrhaging money.
So, I’ll need a part time job to cover costs, right? Call my weekly expenses £150 a week (that’s travel to and from plus minimal basics). Just to break even to cover the costs of living while gaining this free experience, I would also have to work 28 hours a week (at £6 per hour salary). That’s basically three full days, or slightly less if I was earning slightly more.
Which, as you clever bunnies who can add four and three together have already figured out, leaves me a pretty busy bee, with no free time. And that’s just to break even – if I wanted any sort of profit, I’d have to give up sleep.
That’s also assuming that I could find a part time job flexible enough to have me gallivanting off to London as and when The Globe decided they wanted me. And I’m lucky enough to already have a place to live – anyone needing to relocate to London to take this ‘job’ would have to invent a time machine to be able to work the hours they needed to be able to afford to exist. Unless you have a huge amount of savings racked up – and let’s face it, few students or recent grads do – it’s just not a viable lifestyle.
So, thank you guys for the offer. But no thank you.
I know for some its vital to a career when it is difficult to get experience, and an opportunity to learn new skills, build a professional network and add depth to your CV, but for me, it’s impossible. And I’m sure I’m not the only one who has had to turn down an opportunity like this just because, logistically and financially, it doesn’t make sense.
Like I said, it’s not that we graduates/students are greedy; it’s just that we have expenses just like everybody else. And we have student loans to pay off, and, most likely an overdraft and nothing in the savings pot. We’d love to come work for you, but if you’re not going to at the very least cover our travel and accommodation, many of us simply can’t.
What’s your views about unpaid internships. Post you comments below.
Or if you are looking to boost your career prospects these pages will help:
• How to maximise a work experience placement
• Internships abroad
• Gap year internships