Monday 7 November 2011

REASONS WHY GRADUATES SHOULD NOT TAKE THAT UNPAID INTERNSHIP


Graduate Job seekers are often advised to take/seek unpaid internships so as to develop skills rather than staying at home doing nothing. However, the main reason people take up these internships is the hope that the ‘employers’ will realise their talent and therefore end up offering them employment in the long run.

This has been going on for a long time and may have helped many people to gain access to the business field. However, the market is changing and what may have worked perfectly a few years back may not work now. The issue of unpaid internship may seem normal or we may be ‘ok’ with it given that our culture believes in favours, helping out and sacrifice. However, in countries that enforce labour laws regarding remuneration it is becoming an issue of debate given that there is a view that companies take advantage of the free labour. It has gone to the extent of some terming unpaid internship as ‘modern day slavery’. It should also be noted that Internships in general are quickly eroding entry level jobs in the job market.

My opinion of unpaid internship may not be the norm but I have to say that I am speaking/ writing from both experience and keen observation of the job market. A warning is that it may not be a popular view. I hope to demonstrate through these points why unpaid internship may harm you rather than give the perceived benefits.
1.       It may not add any skills
Most organisations do not have a proper structure for internship programmes. They are often seen as a by the way. We all know that getting internships in these organisations is all about connections, you give your CV to Uncle and you start on Monday. This means that they do not have a prepared training program for you. You therefore report to the office but spend the first days doing nothing or basic work which anyone can do. After that, when people are familiar enough to call you ‘Kijanaa’ you end up being the errand boy/girl of the office, helping the tea girl and messengers in being more efficient. You will then gain trust of your colleagues and you will become the one to whom they off load their extra duties which may include basic data entry and other jobs which may not add value to your skills set. In addition to this, the agreed time for these internships may be too little to pass on any meaningful skills.
2.       It will hinder you from knowing and appreciating your worth
I believe when work for free, you get used to the idea and you get into a comfort zone which makes you believe that it is the way things are done. You end up not knowing your true worth as a worker. After this, you will be willing to settle for anything that is paying because it will be better than nothing. This will lead you into taking jobs without evaluating why you are taking them in the first place. This will spiral into job dissatisfaction which will affect your performance and therefore stagnate your growth.
3.       It may not give a good image
Here is a story for you. I once attended an interview and after explaining my experience which only included internships, the interviewer asked me how much I was being paid. When I said nothing, he seemed surprised and blurted out, ‘then how can we tell that you are responsible’. To him, he saw someone who was young, excited and unfortunately without experience in accounting for your own money. I do not thinking I need to mention who had the leverage when negotiating the salary for that position.  ‘You want to come from nothing to Sh. XX,000? The fact that you were not being rewarded for your skills may mean that they were not valuable’. You can take a guess at the outcome of this interview. In short, unpaid internships may tell some fairly positive things about you. However, they may also give the impression that your skills are not valuable, have no experience in handling money and that you have weak negotiation skills.
4.       It may not land you a job in that organisation
The reason I say this is because interns are viewed as external entities by many organisations rather than as being part of the organisation. This means that they may have low transfer of the organisation’s culture. This means that you may be at the same level as potential candidates who desire a place in the organisation.

5.       It worsens the job market and affects everyone in the end
By taking an unpaid internship, you are lowering the entry wage in the market. If you know a bit of math then you know how to work out an average better than me.  In the end we hear of people complaining about low pay and you wonder why employers never hear this call for help. This is because there is someone willing to ‘work’ for free. As unfair as this may sound we can also blame job seekers themselves for this.

I will end by saying do not take my words for gospel truth of course every organisation and circumstance is different. These points are what you should think of before reporting for that internship. I do encourage debate. Therefore whether you agree or disagree feel free to give your opinion or your experience.

3 comments:

  1. true....I agree with your article.....

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  2. Excellent post. FKE and Human resource bodies should come in and help put in guidelines of how employers should conduct internships. There is too much work and no learning that goes on with the 'sugar coating' of the contract that the bigger picture will be full or rewards. I am barely making it to work beacause of no pay how am I to be reliable here let alone in future

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  3. I never thought of that but it come to think of it... Reality check right there.

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