Internships - Confessions of a Recruited Graduate
Upon graduating, we lowly ex-students are faced with a not-so-unexpected conundrum – how to get a job without work experience. The fabled Catch-22; I can hear the screams of unemployed twenty-somethings everywhere “but how can they expect me to have work experience if they won’t employ me?!” Followed by copious amounts of vodka (gin, for the most disheartened) to numb the frustration.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I fully understand that when recruiting, employers are looking for the best candidates. Those with work experience are more likely to understand the working environment and what’s expected of them; pick things up more quickly; and probably have a far healthier attitude to the idea of dragging oneself out of bed before noon. However, I wonder how many employers bite the bullet and offer chances for students and graduates to get such work experience, while simultaneously expecting prospective applicants to possess it.
Warning – reminder of economic climate approaching…
But we’re emerging from a Recession! (There I said it. The R-word is out there).
Can employers really be expected to take on extra workers; naïve and lacking in experience as they are, with their cherubic faces misunderstanding 90% of what you say? Of course I’m joking (it’s 95%); but may I present the solution – the internship! Ta daaaa, sparkles, fireworks etc.
I don’t claim to be the inventor of the internship, but I have noticed that it seems to be the hot new thing these days (despite not actually being that new), and being a graduate intern myself, it does seem to be the solution to everyone’s problems.
Make a list of all the nitty gritty things that need doing around the office (I’m talking photocopying, arranging cupboards, proof-reading documents), select yourself a graduate (or, be daring, and choose an undergraduate) and off you go! You can legitimately pay them very little (I’m not talking slave labour here, we do have overdrafts to pay off), and fix them on a short contract because the point here is having the opportunity to learn. I know I will come out of this internship with a wealth of experience; from the insight into the career I’m considering entering into, to just working 9-5, Monday-Friday. That’s worth far more than any wage. Well. Not any wage.
So anyway, to draw my ramblings to a close - I cannot urge you strongly enough to consider offering internships. Whatever small space in your budget you can find to gift an inexperienced graduate with an opportunity to learn can only come back to you twofold – with a willing, grateful employee and a wider pool of experienced applicants to recruit from.
As for me, I’m off to polish Alan’s shoes.
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