Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
I WAS HIGHLY aware that the day would come eventually. And yet, here I am in a state which could only be described as trepidation. Hyperbole? Perhaps. Yet, when you’re up against the unknown, it’s quite a common reaction.
You see, as part of my college course and in order to obtain that elusive ‘degree holder’ status, I am about to embark on an eight week long unpaid internship. The role is at a Dublin-based radio station and, despite the lack of monetary reimbursement, I’m rather looking forward to the challenges it will inevitably bring.
Why such trepidation?
By doing the internship and the nature of the hours I am required to work, I now have to give up my trusty part-time job. My paid job. That pays me money. Real money on a weekly basis. And that is a scary thought.
Much as I may have complained about my evening/weekend retail number (and my friends will attest to serious complaining being done), when such familiarity is suddenly erased, in its place comes uncertainty. And nobody likes uncertainty.
Whilst I’ve never felt overly impassioned working in the retail industry, it has provided me with a wage. A wage which has paid for holidays, put food on the table and replaced ageing tyres on an equally ageing car.
As I type up my letter of resignation, word by word, the overwhelming feeling is one of anxiousness. Those payslips on a Friday, no matter how paltry the sum, are about to become a thing of the past. At 24 I am, essentially, unemployed.
We’ve all heard anecdotal stories about the effects of unemployment. The loss in one’s confidence, the endless financial burden, the sleepless nights. In fact, it’s not just anecdotal. We all know of real lives affected by unemployment. And yet, it is only when you’re faced with such a prospect that those concepts become succinctly realistic.
For context, I’m not heavily laden down with a crucifying mortgage nor do I have children to feed and clothe like so many others. To that end I’m rather fortunate .But graduates do have their own set of worries, many of which are financial. Continually rising rents and the paying back of student loans are just some examples. The pressures feel just as real.
Many graduates simply feel they don’t have a choice
Internships of the unpaid variety have come in for a lot of criticism in recent times. Many regard them as a means for big, well-established companies to gain free labour. One lecturer, during the course of my studies, vehemently showed disdain towards the idea of ‘working for free’.
And yet for many graduates, whose job prospects are uncertain (that word again), they may feel that they simply don’t have much choice. The market for jobs, in media especially, is fiercely competitive. By taking an unpaid position, it could be argued, they are at least gaining a foothold in their chosen industry. And by doing so, it will (conceivably) improve their chances of becoming gainfully employed in the near future.
My decision to forgo paid work in favour of something less concrete was not a decision arrived at in haste. I spoke with my family about the pros and cons, convincing them while simultaneously convincing myself.
My employers, who have facilitated my college timetable for the last three years are, understandably, unable to provide me with weekend-only hours. And even if they did, the novelty of working seven days a week would quickly wear quite thin.
Self-justification
I still find that I’m constantly resolving and justifying the decision in my own head by uttering things like: “Sometimes you need to take a leap in the unknown”, “It’ll be worth it in the end” and other such musings. Despite this, my concerns have yet to be fully alleviated.
This article isn’t an exercise in the garnering of sympathy. It represents the decisions facing graduates the country over whose future careers hang in the balance. Do they take unpaid internships upon graduation? Or should they hold out in the hope that a paid job will soon come?
My internship begins next month. Hopefully, upon completion, I’ll have an answer to some of those questions.
Thomas Bergin is a 24-year-old freelance journalist from Dublin.
It’s one thing doing an internship as part of your collage course as you will end up with a degree but when your FORCED to do a pointless internship with no reward or skill (Stacking shelves in Tesco) or (Picking up litter for the Council) or loose your social welfare payment then it becomes more like modern day slavery run by FG/Lab.
Modern day slavery? Hyperbolic much? Nobody forces people to take positions through JobsBridge.
I’ve seen people loose their social welfare because they refused to take the Internship with Gateway, one person (Friend of mine with a young family) was a plastic mould engineer who was made redundant from T.Y.C.O. in Shannon and when he refused to take the Gateway scheme (Because he was enrolled for higher education and this would have affected his collage course) he was first called into meetings with the social welfare then had his payments suspended. But Yea’ it must be hyperbole if you say so.
I think it’s perfectly reasonable asking people to do *some* type of community/voluntary work for receipt of their social welfare allowance. Of course this would need to be strictly regulated and should come about if the person Refused to take up jobs offered to them and if they’re not able to show proof of having applied for jobs. That’s just my tuppence worth!
Aislinné, they are being offered jobs. The only catch is that you don’t get paid for them. A fairly significant catch seeing as having a job should mean earning a wage. Tuppence is the word, that’s for sure.
I’ve been looking at jobs lately and some of the internships are a joke. Operative at an egg factory? Production line in a factory? Come on that’s just unpaid labour!
I agree Damien, I don’t believe in exploiting workers for unpaid labour. And I have been there myself. However, my point was that if people want to continuously receive social welfare, and have been on it for YEARS without contributing AT ALL to society, and cannot prove that they’ve been looking for paid employment, then I think it’s fair if they contribute up to 10 hours a week. As for these unpaid internships , obviously it’s not right to expect people to work fully operational jobs that will not contribute ANYTHING to furthering their education or skills set.
How much did Joan pay him to write this crap?
Trepidation heading into an 8 week internship……never heard such drivel in my life. Probably breast fed til he was 12
Um…surely the financial insecurity would worry anyone.
This was me two years ago. I feel your pain, buddy. Fortunately for me the gamble paid off and I’ve been working in a fulltime position since. Hope this internship opens doors for you too =)
Dont understand why anyone would take a position that pays no money. I mean how are you gonna pay your water charge?
Not by taking shameless selfies anyway
Agreed. Water charges are a serious problem for poor people on the north side. Why would they take an unpaid job?
Hey Jamaaaalll ;) Trolling is also an unpaid job
Did you guys not read the article at all? It’s an internship as part of a degree…
And is *nothing* to do with water charges !
It’s everything to do with the Water Tax Larry.
It’s f all to do with water; and it’s not a tax, it’s a utility charge.
Haha Jamaal, I didn’t realise you were ”black man in business suit” from Google images! How many trolls do Fine Gael have on the payroll? At least upload a real photo that isn’t plastered all over the internet. You actually chose the first picture! FG can’t even hire decent trolls!
You could be working for Dunne’s Stores, that would be something to complain about.
Got it right there. I graduated in 2013 with an honours degree in marketing with event management. I now work part time, 12hr night shifts in a call centre. Reason for working night shifts is to actual have money rather than spending it all on childcare (it’s exhausting). I see no way of being able to get a start in the industry when working an unpaid internship is required. I have a toddler, rent, bills and a car. I simply cannot work for free and I do not expect anyone should have to. Someday I hope to use my degree!
Having earned my first money thinning beet at age eight and been in paid employment ever since I cannot understand a well educated grown man of 24 years who cannot find paid employment, and has to work for nothing. That is voluntary slavery and a sad reflection on the capabilities of our younger generation. A well educated man of 24 should be earning enough to support a family and pay a mortgage.
“A well educated man of 24 should be able to find paid work.” He’s still in education, and has paid employment, which he is giving up to do an internship as part of his degree. You should have stayed in school instead of thinning beets when you were younger, you obviously missed a few reading lessons.
It’s a con
Placements have been a part of degree courses for years.
At the university of Ulster, I did a year long placement over 20 years ago, as did everyone else at the university back then and since.
The experience I gained was invaluable.
I don’t get the point of this article.
Is this not called a “placement” as part of the degree course. Something the student already knew exists when they started the course. Also if the job is part-time why “resign”, get different hours or take an 8 week leave of absence.
This is nothing like being unemployed. This happens when you have no job or eduction. Your current choice is education and the part-time job is extra.
You could b
The entire point of employment is to be paid, anything else is slavery
Hyperbolic crap
Work for nothing you’ll never be idle and alway’s be hungry
As far as concerned anyone who has done a days work for no pay or anyone who has benefited from someone who has worked for them for no pay has participated in slavery, legally or illegally, it is defined as slavery
Stuart who raises their hand and volunteers themselves into slavery? Cop on with your OTT hyperbole.
Nobody raises their hand, but it’s definition, you don’t choose slavery but you choose survival, and if survival depends on slavery, you will choose it
And if you disagree, who chooses unpaid employment?
And you’d want to ask yourself where the word hyperbole came from
Slave labour…
have your say