Graduate unemployment in the UK is at its highest rate since ’93, with almost one in eleven graduates failing to find work after six months. Of those who are employed, a large number do not have ’graduate-level’ jobs, and the number of university graduates working in retail and catering has risen to almost one in seven. The Guardian breaks down the data here, and it makes for grim reading.
I’m on the job hunt at the moment, having recently moved down to London. As I suspected, while there are a lot more opportunities (especially in the arts) there are also a LOT more people. So many people, in fact, that it all begins to feel a little hopeless.
It seems like every position advertised requires either years of experience in the field, or a diploma or GNVQ in various arcane subjects such as Museum Studies or Library Management. It would help of course if I knew for certain that I wanted to work in Museum Studies or Library Management, then I could take the diploma or focus on getting the experience. But as an arts graduate you seem to be qualified for everything and nothing and even choosing a direction to go in seems to take a long time. I’m reminded of the passage in The Bell Jar where Esther sees herself in the fig tree, with each fig a perfectly plausible future life, only she cannot choose between them and as she sits in the tree the figs begin to rot and fall to the ground.
Of course a good way of deciding which career path to take is interning until you gain enough industry experience to decide. Trouble is, in this country, they’re highly likely to be unpaid. Which brings me to my problem with internships – or internments, as my mother calls them in her unwittingly humorous way. The culture of unpaid internships is one of the major roadblocks to social mobility in this country. All graduates are not created equal – they are split between those with family who live in London and whose parents can afford to support them for six months to a year, and those who don’t. Now this isn’t (honestly it isn’t!) a self-indulgent moan, I’m aware I’m in a better position that lots of people, but the system seems fundamentally unfair and it’s frustrating to see companies advertising unpaid intern positions when they should be offering paid jobs. Recently I came across an advert for an ‘Administrative Intern’; the duties and responsibilities were identical to that of an Admin Assistant, with no demonstrable focus on gaining skills or personal development.
I realise of course that there are some companies, especially in the charitable sector, who cannot afford to pay their interns, but the culture of never paying interns is sad, it’s sad because the best people for the job aren’t getting the opportunity to try. Of course there are rules and regulations about when you ought to be entitled to the minimum wage, but as a fellow candidate at an interview commented, where is your leverage to enforce these rules? If you ask to be paid there are thousands of people willing to take your place.
Jenn has written a great post over on her blog about money and how as a writer you need to ensure you get paid for your work. I think it’s great that Jenn talks about the money side of the writing business, because generally people don’t – it’s almost considered rude I think because you should be doing it for the love of it, not monetary compensation. But as Jenn says, surely we don’t think that only people who hate their job deserve to be paid? The same thing works for interns, yes it’s a great opportunity, but when you’re contributing to a company’s profit margins, you should be getting paid.
Apart from lobbying for a change in the law, and making people aware of the issue, there doesn’t seem to be a lot we can do on an individual level. With that in mind, and as I hear of more and more people taking on short term work to fund themselves through a couple of weeks work experience, it’s essential that you know exactly what you hope to gain from an internship experience. Don’t lose sight of the fact that in lieu of pay, you really need to take personal responsibility for making sure your experience is valuable in the long term. Reasonable expectations are
- Ask for a career mentor in the area in which you see yourself working.
- Insist on an exit interview summarising your strengths and weaknesses and areas for improvement. This can be difficult in a busy environment but push for it and it will probably leave them with a positive impression of you as a driven, career-orientated individual.
- Try to pick up some names of contacts which you can approach for future job opportunities and even ask if they know anywhere hiring. It’s a mistake to think that if your boss or supervisor is pleased with your work they’ll go out of their way to try and help you out – they’re busy people and you’re one in a long line of office ghosts who have traipsed the corridors in identical Zara office attire and oversized glasses. Ensure you make clear you are looking for work and would appreciate any help they can give you.
While ‘researching’ this post (one month in London and I’ve gone all professional) I came across InternAware; a campaign focusing on promoting fair access to the internship system which provides a comprehensive overview.
Let me know what you think about this!
Next post, how to be an impoverished writer, a humorous tale.
