Here’s our Deputy Editor, student Sian Hodkin’s latest article, on internships. Over to you Sian…

Internships have been under fire recently, particularly when they’re unpaid. Students and graduates argue that in return for our hard work we should see some reward, which is understandable; we’re students, we’re already struggling with money and we’re giving up our time to go and work with a company.

Well I’m here to tell you that that view is wrong.

Can we just take a step back and get off of our high horses here? We are students, we are desperate for experience and we are studying our degrees for a reason. The pay packet is the line on your CV, the line that could potentially put you up above ten other job applicants, the line that gave you the skills and the confidence and the prior knowledge of the business.

I’m currently undertaking a three-month internship with a charity in their fundraising and communications department and yes, it is a lot of data entry, phoning up hundreds of volunteers and having to deal with the automated supermarket answering machine “Press 9 for Customer services”, so yes it is a lot of work, but I absolutely love it.

No it isn’t constantly exciting but then what job is? Every job has its fair share of slogging and guess what? You’re the bottom of the pile so you have to do the slogging. You take that workload and you excel at it; you work so hard that you can enter a hundred entries into excel in ten minutes. Nobody goes into a job as king of the pack, every leader has done their share of slogging.

All I’m saying is, internships are brilliant. They’re great for getting your foot in the door and networking. They’re also great for finding out what you don’t want to do, it’s like a job without the commitment; like a friend with benefits but with lunch breaks. If you end up hating the internship then you know that you don’t want a career in that area, it could help you decide between a few options or be a huge eye opener. You might hate your internship, but be thankful that you had the chance to see that before you stepped into that career.

The same goes for unpaid work; if you’re a writer or work in a creative field; chances are you will not be getting paid for your first few published pieces. If you’re like me, you’ll be four years down the line and have around three pay packets to your name. Getting paid in this business does not come easy; yes it’s unfair and no, a lawyer/doctor/policeman wouldn’t expect to get into a job and not be paid for the first year, but this is all building up your portfolio. All of this unpaid works in your favour, it shows determination and really helps you get to know and mould your own craft.

Yes it is nice to be paid, but I guarantee that first acknowledgment of your hard work, or a great comment on your work will make you feel ten times more elated than a couple of quid.

(Editor’s note – views expressed are Sian’s own – for help and advice on internships or work experience, you can contact SHU’s Careers and Employment Service)