Internship: Opportunity or Abuse?

Coming across these videos and this article brought recollections of my early years in the industry right after graduation.

Mind you that I started my internships right after graduation rather than during my school year, which is a mistake one can say, as I was pretty much losing out to those who had spent their precious summer holidays on valuable work rather than play.

Now that I get paid for my profession, I tend to see internships through a different set of lens. I am not against internship as I believe it is essential to kick-start one’s career, but I am against the abuse of it. Sadly, there many gullible, aspiring designers who bow down to greedy, unscrupulous employers (including the big players!) who want nothing more than free labour in the guise of “internship”.

This is especially rampant during the economic downturn, and in the Western world where internships are usually unpaid.

When doing internships, try not to exceed 6 months of unpaid work (even if you can afford it) because this can erode your self-worth over time and reduce your confidence and self-esteem. I have encountered some who have done internships for more than a year and they still struggle to get a paid job! Graduates should not feel pressured or ‘intimidated’ by promises of full-time job offers after their internships. Though this is true in some cases, more often than not, there are employers who tend to use such statements to keep the interns longer than the agreed period of unpaid labour, and/or to ‘motivate’ the interns to put in more effort than usual to increase productivity for their companies, resulting in the interns not getting employed.

Some companies are known to have left a desk or two empty so that they can make use of the pool of interns rather than pay for a professional!!

This is ethically wrong if the intern is used to replace a paid full-timer, or made to work like a full-timer. There are laws in many countries outlining the definition and rules for internships, ensuring that employers do not cross the line. Internships are for the benefit of the interns, not the other way round. It is highly essential that would-be interns do their research and recognise their rights before accepting any offers.

Here are some tips that can help:

1. Know your rights and be firm
Researching on the company and your legal rights at work can reduce enormous amount of emotional stress and headache at work. Discuss what you need to know and what you will be doing during your internship with the prospective employer. Nothing is worse than being scammed of your own time and money.

2. Can you afford it?
Since most internships are unpaid and require 5-day-a-week basis, make sure you have saved up enough to afford the time you spent. Companies usually reimburse for the interns’ public transport and/or lunch. Be sure to know in advance what you will be paid for because some companies do not do reimbursements at all!

3. Know when to leave
The saying goes: “If it’s too good to be true, then it probably is.”
Many job-hungry interns would do anything to secure a full-time position if the opportunity arises. While it is true that internships can lead to permanent positions in the present company, in many cases, this is not so. Interns should keep their options open and not hang on to endless promises of a job when asked to work longer periods than initially agreed, or do tasks that are outside the job scope. Neither should they feel that they have to stay in the company to look ‘impressive’ and ‘indispensable’.

If you find that the experience is not benefitting you in any way in terms of helping you understand the job, what qualities you learn, or finding yourself serving coffee rather than doing the job as promised, it is best not to waste any more precious time.

Remember, as long as you are not the employee, you are not entitled to any employment benefits or insurance.

4. Know when to start getting paid!
Internships can become addictive if one does not know when to stop. Once you have garnered enough experience, you should start looking for a paid job or insist that you should be paid after the agreed period. Some do numerous internships as a way of hoping to secure a job through one of them, however if going from one to another without hitting a jackpot seems to be the result, it is vital to be firm with regards to your rights and self-worth as a designer. It will also not look very good on the CV to have too many internships that potential employers may question your ability to commit to one place. It is no fun after a while when you realise that you are not getting a penny’s worth for helping those fat cats to become fatter.

Ultimately, it is up to you, the intern, to decide the best decisions to make use of that internship that will eventually help you in your career. Here is a video voicing opinions from those who did internships:

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