Lifetracks
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Tags:
internships
,
unpaid work experience
,
media
,
journalism
Internships are the source of much controversy at the moment – are they a valid way of getting into a new career, or just a cynical source of unpaid labour, as our volunteer journalist recently discovered? So we’re impressed to learn that sourcethejob.com, a recruitment site for the media industry, has chosen to take a stand and ban ads for unpaid internships from its site.
“The majority of internships advertised are unpaid and can run from three months to an indefinite length; a time factor which may eliminate those who cannot afford to work for free from the media industry,” says Daryl Willcox, founder of SourceThatJob.com. “We’ve attracted many positive comments supporting our stand. Obviously people have differing views, but it’s reignited an important issue.”
Unfortunately, internships and work experience are still pretty much the norm for any job in the media. The issue isn’t going away, so we think some form of regulation needs to be introduced to ensure that people don’t work longer than three months for free – and that they get first dibs at any available jobs after they’re finished interning. What do you think?
Emma Rubach, journalist, lifetracks.com
Internships are the source of much controversy at the moment – are they a valid way of getting into a new career, or just a cynical source of unpaid labour, as our volunteer journalist recently discovered? So we’re impressed to learn that sourcethejob.com, a recruitment site for the media industry, has chosen to take a stand and ban ads for unpaid internships from its site.
“The majority of internships advertised are unpaid and can run from three months to an indefinite length; a time factor which may eliminate those who cannot afford to work for free from the media industry,” says Daryl Willcox, founder of SourceThatJob.com. “We’ve attracted many positive comments supporting our stand. Obviously people have differing views, but it’s reignited an important issue.”
Unfortunately, internships and work experience are still pretty much the norm for any job in the media. The issue isn’t going away, so we think some form of regulation needs to be introduced to ensure that people don’t work longer than three months for free – and that they get first dibs at any available jobs after they’re finished interning. What do you think?
Emma Rubach, journalist, lifetracks.com
Added: Wed 10 March, 2010, 11:15
