Being a millennial means being adaptable. Means having to learn how to deal with situations that don’t have precedents. Nowadays, the job market is unpredictable, dynamic and nothing like it was. There was no such thing as internships or samples or try outs. Every single thing you do, most of the time, is to prove how good you are at it. But more often than not, people are starting to create their jobs. And then, the internships were born.
So far, I’ve done around 6 internships in my life. Meaning, places I’ve worked without being paid for. My first internship was at a design event organization, back in Portugal. I was working beneath the head of communication, sort of like an assistant. I answered e-mails, made calls and went to meetings – all along being promised something I never got. It started in February and I was there for 4 months – a normal internship was only 3. When they asked me to work for them throughout summer until September.
I started considering it but then, the chance of me staying with them was zero.
Here was a non-profit organization, where people working full-time were being paid, and I was not. They wanted me to bust my ass off for the possibility of nothing. I said no on the spot, and they were a bit petty about it. After that, I did a couple more, always on the promise that I would, eventually, some time in the future, get paid. Which I never was.
When I got to New York, I was 25 years old. I had already worked full-time, had numerous freelance clients, and was still asked to do internships. Figured it was a good idea, since it might seem like a way into the industry. The first one I got was at a magazine – which I’d rather not say the name. I was there for 3 whole weeks, 3 times a week. I was living out in Long Island, took me around 2 hours to get there, 2 more to go back. The premise was that the magazine was awesome and it would be an amazing starting point.
Towards my last few days, I freaked out.
The magazine had only 3 people working full-time and 9 others doing internships. They were based on young minds, fresh out of college or trying to start out. Not to mention the fact that I was paying to work – train and subway tickets, food and time. It felt very depraved, so I quit.
The main lesson I take from it is, sure, it’s great to do internships. They teach you a lot about working in a company, organization, with a team and, as a starting point, seem amazing. You can be promised to stay and end up not to, or vice-versa. Bottom line is, no one should ever work for free. Whether you’re starting out or already are in a junior position. It doesn’t make any sense. Even if they just pay for food and transportation, there has to be some sort of compensation because, nothing is ever worth your time when you’re not even being considered an asset.
I learned a lot during internships, met great and not so great people, but I never felt any of them would lead to a permanent job. Sure, I quit a few, but I wasn’t happy in any of them. I was tired of being promised things that never came and eventually grew bigger than the internship. It becomes a big red flag when you reject the internship and they say “a thousand other people are in line for this position”.