Congruity (Home)

Right now is an interesting time in the world of unpaid internships with Fair Work Australia launching an investigation into them and whether they are tantamount to exploitation.

I’ve written a post about it (and my experiences) which has appeared on Girl with a Satchel, available here. A post by Rebecca Armitage has also gone up on the Drum. Mamamia also featured a post about it from the employers side, which gave good reasons why work experience isn’t always thrilling.

I don’t think I have much more to say on my experiences that I haven’t said already. They are a mixed bag, they can be both useful and exploitative. It’s not necessarily that people are working for free that is the problem, rather the problems are:

• mundane tasks are not always moderated with useful/instructive tasks.
• the internship may require an unfair number of hours.
• the internship may not be mutually beneficial.
• not all internships actually help people in forging a career (and instead just leads to serial interning).

If you add on the fact that there is an over-supply of many grads (such as journalism and law grads, for example), the natural result is if you want a job, you have to suck up to potential employers. In such fields, the balance is tipped to the side of the employer. The employer doesn’t woo you or ask you nicely to do things for them for free, you have to convince them why they should let you work for free near them. Of course employers can take advantage of that (I don’t think it’s particularly common that an employer will obviously abuse the relationship, but the potential is there in any case). It’s not that an intern should be wooed, but it is a bit odd that it is so competitive to get the opportunity to ‘experience’ mundane tasks for on office that is related to your industry of choice.

Not all internships are mundane though - some can provide relevant experience and contacts which makes the whole process worthwhile.

Finally, a point that doesn’t often get said in this debate: even if internships were perfect, the fact that they are unpaid renders them inaccessible for those who have to work for money to support themselves. This means that forging a career in a competitive industry doesn’t just require an investment of time but an investment of money. This is a huge equity concern. So, maybe the problem is not so much their content or even that they’re paid poorly, but that internships are becoming more and more necessary to get a job in the first place and aren’t something one can easily opt out of if they want a career in a competitive industry. It means that people from lower class backgrounds are not as able to pursue their dream job.

All that said, I write and edit a lot for free. But my experience has been really positive because it was relevant and interesting and usually the organisations are not-for-profit themselves and have an important mission and I’ve played an autonomous role. My writing has improved a lot because I get feedback in the process. No coffee grabbing, just working on what I like to do!