unpaid internship
13 Apr
So, it all (re)started after seeing this tweet “Whats with all the Intern positions in the U.S, in England we call them trainees or apprentices and they get PAID!” http://twitter.com/imrogb
It reminded me about my own concerns and that I started writing about this.
The thing is that u keep gaining more and more experience on your own. Having profiles on more than one social network, having a blog and a lot of bookmarks to other blogs and specialized websites make you gain a lot of experience. Having a study base in marketing or advertising or having already worked for such an agency makes u more than a social media geek that wastes all his time on the virtual side of life.
And guess what, those who hire ‘in digital interested youngsters’ want you to have all this abilities and capabilities and studies (working experience is of course another plus) until you gain so many pluses and you are perfect for…
wait for it…
the UNPAID job.
Some delicious examples: (freshly published)
1. We’re searching for an organized and enthusiastic individual to join our team. This position is ideal for someone looking to break in to the industry and learn the ins and outs of the advertising, marketing and promotions world. This is an unpaid internship. (But several of our past interns have become paid full time employees)
Responsibilities include:
- Assist Account Managers with media buying and media planning
- Assist in marketing and sponsorship planning and execution
- Interact with publications, websites, TV stations, radio stations, and vendors to gather information on advertising opportunities.
- Gather rates and ad specs.
- Research
- Formulate and keep track of insertion orders.
- General office duties
Qualifications
- Must be highly organized, detail oriented and have the ability to multi-task and work effectively under pressure in both a team setting and individually
- Must possess superior verbal and writing skills
- Interest in sports and entertainment
- Knowledge or Microsoft Word and Excel is a must .
These ones are my favs, social butterflies wanted – you can find a lot of such “offers”
2.
Social Butterflies of New York/Manhattan– Club/Lounge Party Promotions
We are a well-known and respected Nightlife & Lifestyle company, specializing in producing weekly events across Manhattan, at the trendiest and hottest Chelsea, Meatpacking District, and Lower East Side nightclubs and lounges. We are currently looking for the perfect night-time social butterfly, with enough contacts to be able to host your friends and acquaintances at one or two events per week at your choosing and flexible. The clubs and venues we are associated with are strictly high-end. You invite your contacts to your event and host them with complementary drinks and/or bottles, in order to build up a following and base for your future events.
Please send us your full name, complete contact information, some background information about yourself and a short list of your favorite nightspots. Please include a recent picture if possible.
- Compensation: independent contractor ?!
3. Award-winning, boutique PR firm with creativity and A-List clients needs tech, social media savvy part-time intern/assistant for top-tier media outreach, biz development, research. Clients served include James Taylor, AnnTaylor, 2nd Ave Deli, Tibet House/The Dalai Lama. Position is all about doing ‘real work’ and learning – previous intern landed full time Digital PR job.
NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE. Submit cover letter and resume & we’ll get back to you. Thanks!
Tasks:
Research trend stories
Build media lists
Digital + traditional media outreach
Special events / promotions
General administrative work
Credit available. it’s anything you wanted, or excuse me, you would do everything to get just the credits… Please submit resume and cover letter.
- Compensation: Credit Available
Of course it’s unpaid, cause it gives u the opportunity to gain experience (more experience!!??!), to be in the industry –hello, you are already in the industry – u learned how to market yourself, you have the tools to make a brand powerfull or kill a brand, all by yourself. So why not make that for a company, a company that needs all your experience and time – but for money?
The list could go on for ever. You can enjoy on craigslist such wonderful postings with more tasks required and responsibilities and with small letter-infos about the payment…or should I say, “unpayment” .
Reading them may make you feel good, cause you are great, you posses what they ask for. 
A further interesting discussion is about the unpaid writing, so well known in the digital era. Not many bloggers are lucky enough to get paid (and I think a more suited word is get compensations…of all kind, rather than money)
Here’s a movie that was all around the social networks – about writers who should be paid.
And it’s sooo true, also for bloggers.
Writing stuff as well as searching and adding lots of friends and updating statuses, and commenting all over the internet takes TIME. A lot of time. It’s not like just a hobby, that u schedule for 2-3 hours during a week, after work or classes – like going to the gym, or walking your dog. It is a full-time JOB!
It takes time to click all over the browsers and pages, to read the stuff so u know where else to click, to copy, to paste, to adapt – to even form your own opinion and write it down.
So, you have a great paid internship offer?
Just because of possessing extraordinary capabilities that check the long lists of requierments…
And there’s passion for it, of course!
Hello there, just doing some browsing for my Ray Ban site. Can’t believe the amount of information out there. Wasn’t what I was looking for, but nice site. Have a good day.