I recently received the current(22 Jan 09) weekly indesignlive.com newsletter in my inbox. I was scrolling through having a quick look at what was contained within. When I reached the bottom I began to read the careersindesign section. The first position advertised is Editorial Intern, Indesign Group. I click on it and of course end up at a page with plenty more detail on the position. I begin to read.
“Do you want to work at the country’s top Architecture and Design publishing company? Well… we need an intern.
Rare opportunity for student or recent graduate to work alongside the Indesign editorial department.
We are looking for a creative and enthusiastic individual with a strong interest in design and/or architecture, to join the editorial department at the Indesign Group head office in Surry Hills, Sydney.
The intern will be actively involved in researching and writing articles for both print and online publications. The unpaid position….”
Unpaid? Get real indesign and any other employer out there that thinks they should be able to pay interns, work experience students or graduates absolutely nothing, or a pittance for not only their time, but also their knowledge, expertise, experiences and skills. Its just disgusting! Amazingly enough, despite what industry seems to think, students and especially graduates do have expertise, experience and skills. Even if they are only in the first year of their course, every person has a set of experiences and skills that may in fact be much broader and in some cases deeper than even some of the people will be or are working with.
Case in point. The advert continues on and a bit later says “…savvy with a Mac computer a must….”. It would be my guess that, in respect to computer skills, the people who apply for this position will be able to run rings around the others they will work with. The student or graduate who gets the position has probably been using a computer since they could walk. Where as the people already working in the editorial team have probably only figured out how to use one in the last 6 – 8 years.
Now that being said, it is true that the student or graduate may not have the depth of experience that those who they will work with will have in the specific area. And that they are probably being offered an amazing opportunity to learn from people who are highly knowledgeable, experienced and skilled in a particular area. But how is it valid that companies like indesign can punish people for wanting to learn? It is not like the person that will be employed will be deaf, dumb and mute or a completely clean slate. They will have knowledge, expertise, experience and skills that these companies are taking advantage of. And yes, making money from! Many people seem to be very quick to forget the fact that they were once in a position very similar in their career, where they were being punished for wanting to learn. Why do you want to keep on pushing such an archaic and exploitative practice on people?
And that is what companies like indesign are doing to graduates and students. They are taking advantage of and exploiting them. At the same time they are devaluing not only the student or graduates skills and wealth of knowledge, but also in many cases the value of a whole industry and the industries education institutions. Just like free pitching degrades the design industry, so does exploitation of design students and graduates.
In the case of unpaid design work being performed by gradates, it sends a message from the company, to the graduate and the education institution that they received their qualification from saying “We have no respect for your knowledge, skills, experience and expertise. They are worth nothing to us!”.
Indesign and companies like them who think they can exploit students and graduates. Think about your actions, they devalue entire professions! Because of such devaluation (that started with unpaid student & graduate positions) I have designer friends who are extremely skilled and experienced in their area (10 year plus of experience) who even before the current economic climate struggled to be paid more than or to equal to a shop assistant! And yes these designers do have degree qualifications, in some cases even multiple degrees. So to the Indesign’s of this world I say – reassess your values and the value you place upon, not only student and graduate employees but also your other employees. Man up and cough up. Even in this economic climate such practices are disgusting and reek of a weak organistaion that places no value in its employees. Which if you haven’t figured it out yet, are your most valuable assest.
I think that’s pretty harsh and I think you are in fact undervaluing the experience, connections and opportunities that an unpaid internship can bring. If nothing else, it will give the intern the opportunity to see what that career is like (i.e design writing), which no other careers advisor or situation or school could simulate. It is vastly rewarding completing work for someone who you respect and values your work even though they are not paying you.
I say this from experience in an unpaid internship. It has given me lots of opportunities in my chosen field, and has allowed me to explore career possibilities that i would not have otherwise encountered. Even more than that, i feel like i am treated as an equal in the studio, and can OFTEN solve problems that others can’t (especially with regards to technology and newer computer programs).
I can see your point that they are undervaluing a student’s expertise or education. However, I would stop short of branding it as exploitation. I think in many cases the opportunity is suggested by the student, and sometimes the position would not exist without a student or potential intern’s initial interest.
some people get paid a lot, and aren’t worth it. Some interns are there to have it on their CV. But in my experience, i couldn’t put a dollar value on the connections, professional relationships, exposure, encouragement, studio experience and friendships that i have earned and been rewarded with since starting my internship and volunteering.
maybe you should go for the indesign internship? i would.
and on a personal note, i wouldn’t swear on your blog – it makes it seem like you are insulting indesign and your readers. you write too well to need to resort to swearing, don’t give in to it!
Ben,
Thanks for the great commenting. I agree the swearing is a bit over the top, got carried away (have removed it now) I did write this as an article to stimulate discussion – by taking an extreme point of view and writing passionately about it – and in no way to attack the great work that magazines like indesign do. However I do feel that the practice of not paying interns is not a particularly good one as it really does do all professions damage. Designers like ourselves and the great ones in the great studios understand that yes there are enormous benefits to being an intern, even if they are unpaid. However beyond the realms of the the great studios, other business pick up on this practice not to provide the great experience, but to get cheap labour and exploit people.
This then leads to these businesses devaluing the design profession as a whole and thus leads to more issues. I know of one company that undervalues their designers so much that they won’t allow them to attend the weekly company WHIP meetings! What those designers are doing there I’ll never know, although they have a massive design staff turnover, which does in the long run affect their business.
But all these types of behaviors in various business breed a wide spread culture of undervaluing design and designers. And personally I think that it is ridiculous you weren’t paid, as I know who you did you internship with and with the amount of government funding they receive you can’t tell me there wasn’t enough in the budget to pay an intern even minimum wage – despite what they claim.
I suppose it depends on the individual and the organization. Now if it was an organization with, say more than 10 employees I would say the intern should be paid. On the other hand if it is a small business with 2 employees – different story. It is definitely situation dependent. I was offered an internship with a lighting company in Melbourne. They make a pretty tidy profit, have an almost monopoly in their particular sector and at that point I was in the final semster of my degree. But they refused to pay me anything for my time. Yet I could go and work at the corner store down from my house and earn more then that. I wouldn’t get the experience (it might have been amazing, on the other hand maybe not? ), but at least I can pay my bills, stay alive and get more experience later on.
hey raph,
I think we’ve both made valid points.
I’ll concede that considering the size of the place i did my internship, they could have paid me, but it would have been a very different experience. In fact i continued to volunteer there after my internship finished. I also picked up about 200 hours work doing mostly CAD. I had a meeting there today and will do some more CAD, and while i was there was invited to have coffee/beer with people, thanked for a postcard i sent them, asked how i was doing job wise etc etc. I did not feel undervalued at all. (though perhaps undervalued in a monetary sense)
I will point out that being able to volunteer has been a luxury that i have been able to afford recently (as I had another job to bring the cash in). i can understand that others may not have this freedom.
i will also point out the enjoyment of work is not derived from the amount of money made, and so volunteering or an unpaid internship can be immensely satisfying for the singular reason that you are not getting paid at all! Rather, your colleges personally and professionally value your work.
All matters considered I am now happy to quote them on a higher rate for CAD work. I think you’ve given me the confidence to value my own services more than before, with a dollar value and an end output.
Is there a way to try out a trial?
Hi Dacey,
Firstly thanks for stopping by and commenting.
I assume you mean do a trial of someone prior to them starting a full time intern position or something similar?
Then my suggestion is put them on a casual hourly rate for how ever long you want the trial to run for and at the end assess them and make a decision on whether you wish to employ them for the position. Remember even in a trail you are still utilizing their time, knowledge and skills.
I am also completely against unpaid internships and I think it’s shameful for an organisation with such responsibility towards the industry to de-value it in this way. Although the student does get a lot out of such an experience, I think this example is taking advantage of student’s position.
Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand the value of an internship and think it’s the best thing a student can do. I undertook one for 9 months (fulltime with accommodation and living allowance).
The same goes for design competitions that are nothing more than a means of avoiding to employ an additional designer or a cheap means to idea input.
I have less respect for Indesign, which i previously held at high esteem.
@ Liam – Thank you for contributing your views to the conversation on unpaid internships. Its great to hear that your internship was positive and that you were remunerated. Keep in touch.
Tip: calm down before you write a post like this. Your obvious anger makes you sound unprofessional, childish, and bitter (as this subject has little to nothing to do with you directly).
Also, after reading your post, you seem to have either missed something, or have a personal vendetta against this type of thing (hiring an intern). It happens everyday, all over the planet, in almost every industry. Do some interns get taken advantage of? Sure. I would bet that most, however, do not.
So, relax, and lose the “!!!!” in your writing. It looks bad.
Bob,
Thank you for taking the time to read Design Droplets and leave your comments. Also thank you for the Tips. I have to say this wasn’t one of my best posts and I think it is one I will revisit later on. Just to make it clear, I am not against Interns being hired. I am against Interns being hired and not being remunerated for the skills and knowledge they provide to the company.
Wow long time since the last post, anyway, I agree with Raph, mainly because someone in my position, who lives far away from the nearest major city where most good design companies are based, could not afford to do an unpaid intership.
There are no Product Design companies anywhere near me and to work at one I would have to move.
Now if I did, that would mean having to pay rent somewhere, meaning I would have to get money from something. Freelance is an option, but definitely not a steady income by any means. Working weekends and nights would be possible but would severely impact my ability to perform at my best during the day. A friend of mine secured an unpaid internship and had to cross London every day to get to it. It took him 2 hours each way and by the end of the year had debts of £2000!
Design companies realise the value of an internship and exploit it. Even minimum wage would be acceptable, it wouldn’t cost the company much and it would give the student a sense of their work being valued by being paid to provide a service.
Adam
http://www.coroflot.com/adamborton