Unlike the film, the circle of life as a graduate sadly doesn't begin by being lifted and presented to the animal kingdom as an awe-inspiring bundle of fur, soundtracked by THAT Elton John gem.
(Sorry, couldn't resist)
In fact, quite the opposite happens really. Instead of being presented as perfect, we're thrown straight into the lions den. The only activity that goes on here is shouting, every unemployed graduate for themselves.
'EMPLOY ME, I HAVE ALL THESE SKILLS,'
'NO, EMPLOY ME, LOOK AT ALL MY EXPERIENCE,'
'PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD EMPLOY ME, I AM DESPERATE FOR MONEY.'
Ok, maybe not the last one, but we're all thinking it. Except, there's just one problem. To get to a lot of jobs these days, you become stuck in the black hole that is WORK EXPERIENCE AND INTERNSHIPS. I don't want to bore anyone, because I know just how many blogs post about this. Trust me, I've read most of them in hopes of finding any way out. I'm not completely writing off unpaid internships by any stretch of the imagination. I knew when I decided I wanted this career that interning was vital in succeeding. They can be an essential way to network and get contacts that will prove priceless in the future. They give you the knowledge you need/can then brag about on CVs and covering letters that make other companies pass out from excitement. Well, almost. Most importantly, if you impress and you're there at the right time, they can be the important stepping stone you need into a journalism career. If you're lucky (I am not. Unfortunately).
Here's the catch, and the most frustrating circle we find ourselves in. To get a job, you need experience. Fine and dandy. HOWEVER, to get said experience, you are expected to break a bank to be able to afford to travel to and from London in peak times, since you're not even being paid expenses. Unless you live in London (where you may just be able to claim expenses for the tube. WOO), or are handsomely loaded, you're stuck between a rock and a very hard place.
This is exactly where I'm currently stuck. I've got a few weeks of experience lined up shortly which I'm really excited about, but I am panicking as to how the heck I'm going to afford it. Depressingly, I've had to sign up to Jobseeker's since many companies won't employ me part-time in case I leave in a few months when I get a better offer (HAHAHA sarcastic laughter). Even this is a bit of a failure in itself, since they won't pay you the allowance if you start working for free, although you can apparently ask to get your expenses covered. We'll see. What I'd like to campaign for is work experience that pays you somehow, even if it's just expenses and lunch. Us graduates are willing to work for free (within reason, we don't want to basically be an employee within the company and not get paid), because we all agree that we need these skills and such to be able to progress. A grand don't come for free and all that. But the vast majority of us are stuck in that lion's den, broke, crying and waiting for Mufasa to present us to the kingdom of employees as the perfect candidate for the role, and we're quickly discovering that it's just not happening. Even though we may have the full range of skills needed and then some, we're constantly being beaten down by those who can afford to travel without robbing the bank.
Apologies if this turned a bit rant-y. It was going to be a really well thought out and articulate piece of work but this whole internship-payment argument is one of the most frustrating things in my life right now. Day in, day out of constant job and internship applications has become exceptionally draining and I just want to run around London yelling employ me until someone calls the police on the crazy person. Contrary to popular belief, we are trying eveything. Signed up to every job site available, we've lost sight on what day we're even on now. And even worse than rejection? Those companies that just point blank never reply... that's a whole other blog post.
So what do you think? Should internships be paid, even if it's just expenses? Leave me a comment below, as I know how fiercely debated this topic is!
Until next time. Here's some Robin Thicke to make everything better.
x
2 comments:
I completely agree with you and get ranty on this subject aswell. I thought you managed to remain quite articulate!
I'm not unemployed (I want to be a journalist and I'm working full-time at Boots, so I'm underemployed) but getting work experience is still hard. I can afford to do a placement for a week or two but a lot of places only do longer ones now and I can't do that because I have to pay for London rent! I can't just quit my job because the placement might not lead to anything and all hell could break loose.
I can only do placements during "holiday" from work (though I'm working so not much of a holiday!) and those have to be planned in advance. A lot of places these days organise their work experience last minute and can't be bothered to plan into the future to cater for me. I also increasingly find my placement emails ignored which is silly because my presence will be a help to them!
So I'm in a different situation to you a bit but work experience is still difficult. See, I got a bit ranty too!
Oo, well thank you! Glad to know I managed to make some sort of sense.
I completely understand where you're coming from. I've currently got an interview lined up for a store job, purely because I somehow need to afford to get to work experience placements, but like you, I can't afford to do much over two weeks. Signing onto jobseeker's was the most soul-destroying thing!
Is Boots pretty lenient when it comes to getting time off for placements? I'm with you on being ignored. SO much worse than getting rejected, because you KNOW you've got the skills, but you're just lost in the sea of emails. Argh!!
Haha I'm glad you got ranty too! Fingers crossed you can get something substantial in journalism soon! :)
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