With my fresh and shiny degree in hand, I am applying for every job that comes my way; whether it’s in my chosen field or not. Competition is fierce here in Halifax! I was quite thrilled to see a job come up that actually is in my area of expertise, with a company that hosts amazing events. But wait; rate of pay for all the hard work they ask? Unpaid internship. That’s not even legal here. Pay people a wage for the work they do. It’s the law. —Trained, skilled, experienced: Deserves pay
This article appears in Sep 4-10, 2014.
Maybe let them know that rather than cry about it here? And there’s always Alberta… I hear they get to wipe their asses with gold leaf toilet paper! Right CFAs and other assorted deluded ones?
If you have a fresh degree, then it is likely you have no skills or experience. If they are offering you skills and experience instead of a shitty entry level position, you could do much worse than working for them while looking for ther work.
Some career paths are just plain over saturated with qualified noobs. I do hope you do find something though.
Yes, I had the same experience when I obtained my Ph.D. in Philosophy.
Good luck, OB – it’s ROUGH here in Halifax. People with years of experience and education find it hard to secure jobs around these parts.
My best suggestion? If you need the cash, try temp agencies. But just take them for what they are – many people will tell you that it’s your ‘foot in the door’ and will lead to permanent employment. Well, I did the temp thing for a while and every temp I worked with (especially in government where temps are a dime a dozen) never found permanent employment through a temp agency/position. If you look at it as a means to pay your bills and nothing more, you’ll be fine (just try not to get too demoralized in the process).
Also: UNPAID internships are bullshit. They usually don’t lead to paid employment because why pay the grunt after they’ve slaved away for you for a year when you can just get another schmuck to do the grunt work for free. I don’t believe they’re illegal in NS, but they should be. But then again, employers would simply find ways around that.
You are better off working in your field and gaining experience than working a mcjob and gaining a small paycheque. And, I’m not too good for a mcjob, I would do it if i had to.
I do agree with you, GV, but when you have to pay the bills….
I just think unpaid internships are bullshit in the ‘free labour’ bit and it’s usually organizations with money to burn that offer these. I saw one unpaid internship for ‘Style at Home’ – the application process was ridiculous and they expected you to (somehow) work, unpaid and afford to live in Toronto. Unless you’re living rent-free with your folks, you probably don’t have a hope in hell of being able to afford something like this. It’s unfortunate.
It’s called training and a part of your schooling. Suck it up Buttercup.
Any company offering unpaid internships should be named and shamed. If they can’t afford to pay someone to do the work they should make do with their current paid roster or do without. On the other hand, the job market of any field in which unpaid internships are de rigueur has probably reached saturation point. Go into business for yourself and build a client base and a portfolio.
Tell em to go fuck ’emselves, cheap baztards.
Did you see those five “dislikes” on my comment of 09/12, 2.39PM? I knew that would stir them up.
Get the hell out of NS, that’s my advice and that’s what I had to do.
LOL look at the baby boomer posters with their oh so sympathetic comments….
Suck it up, huh? Like you boomers had to when you got high paying jobs with your degrees alone (and no experience)?! Hilarious!!
Having done hiring with a company that used unpaid interns, I have to say that unpaid internships are becoming a blight. However, usually, unpaid internships are being used in fields that new applicants are applying and expecting 100% to 150% more in yearly wage than the employer is willing to spend.
2 things need to change in the job market (not just in NS) for unpaid internships to disappear.
1) Employers need to provide a living wage for all jobs, not pathetic starting wages, and equally pathetic raises for employees who stick it out. This applies for professional jobs and anything else. I’ll admit I’m part of the problem here, but change is slow, and I’m telling you that the financial future of companies are not as rosy as some make them out to be. Sorry, I think of myself before you.
2) Potential employees need to temper their expectations of wages when they come into the workplace. That shiny new degree is worthless to me when I’m hiring you. Chances are that 90% of your degree is worthless to me as a employer because I don’t know your GPA, what your courses were like, or even if your professors were competent. I know some of mine weren’t. So when you say: “I expect 60K a year” for the entry level position of pencil pusher because my profs (or teacher for those who have those awful career college degrees) said I deserve it, I end the interview, hard stop. Experience trumps education every time. Especially when I can hire someone with experience and education, with proper expectations.
Good luck in your search.
I do think unpaid internships have their pace. But in the way of the last 2 months of schooling should be on the job training in your area of expertise. It’s when they stretch out for years that it is a problem. I also kind of laugh at the stance “we need to make them illegal so they will pay those workers!”. No they won’t they will just not bring in anyone and pile more work onto the staff they already have.