The Intern Debate

Picture this: You're a young fashion journalist, you've just landed a dream internship at one of the biggest names in the fashion industry, you have plans of being noticed, plans of writing for their website, of being given your own project, of making a name for yourself and showing them what you can do. You arrive on your first day in a huge, glamorous office in London with notebook in hand and what's the first thing you're shown? The tea room. 

Yes, unfortunately this is the reality for many young interns, this and the fact that you will probably find yourself overwhelmed with errands, emails and phone calls ( and the sudden need to buy those old granny insoles for your shoes because your feet are falling apart!)

What's more is that you are expected to do all this for maybe weeks on end, completely unpaid. 

Now, it's not unheard of for a fashion intern to work for free, however the recent issues surrounding the hours that the intern is expected to do for free and the type of jobs that they have to carry out, are the topics of a new hot debate. 

The reason for this is because some interns are now being expected to work up to 12 hours at a time with little prospect or job opportunity once their internships are over. It almost seems that the huge backlog of aspiring interns is providing the fashion companies with a never ending conveyor belt of young, bright eyed and eager interns who are ready to take the place of the previous. This, therefore allows the company to use and replace interns like they are designer items, never to be worn again.

So, the question arises. Should interns be paid for their work or should they remain freebies for the fashion world. 

Some people are worried that if the demand pay the interns increases, then the fashion names will become more and more objective and picky when it comes to choosing the lucky few that do get to work for them and therefore, this may result with more being turned away.

On the other hand, during the current economic climate, it is simply becoming impossible for those who are not already living in London to travel and stay in the city by only relying on their own savings, and therefore the opportunities are only being given to those who live close enough and can afford to travel from home.

As a previous intern myself, I have to say that I think it comes down to the length of the job and the thoughts and expectations of the intern. If you know that the internship is unpaid and will require you to work for a number of months, then obviously this type of job is clearly taking advantage of the person who applies. It can not be seen as a bit of experience if you are spending most of your year working just as hard as the other employees but for free. This is pure exploitation. To be expected to completely shift your life to a new city and to live on pennies for a whole year, just to have an insight into a fashion company is completely to the benefit of the company. For some, this becomes far too much and they end up leaving their internship with dampened dreams. 

However, I believe that the internships which last only a few weeks are completely different. With these type of internships comes the agreement of an end. The agreement that this is just a small opportunity to see the world of work and no job is promised once it's finished. This type of internship can prove invaluable. Yes, you may make tea for a lot of people but it means that when you move on to your next experience, your employee will be impressed when they see that you have actively worked for free to gain experience at another company. 

It is no surprise that these internships involve making tea and answering phone calls because at the end of the day, everyone starts somewhere and you can't expect to start at the top because you wouldn't learn anything at all. 

Alex Gravell, a fashion journalist and previous fashion intern believes that " Everyone has to pay their dues and put in the time somewhere. If you put in the effort it will be noticed at the end of the day" and that is something that really needs to be remembered when thinking about working in the fast and dynamic industry. If you honestly think that you have what it takes, then your hard work will pay off but when it comes to being an intern, you are there for one reason only and should not think of yourself as a much needed member of the team. You are there to learn and to grow and to experiences things which you may have only dreamed of experiencing before. 

As current beauty PR intern Lucy Verity Steels says, "in fashion, you have to do unpaid work usually, but if you think you've got what it takes then there are other ways round it".

What are your views?

Keep a look out for Alice Mary Gorton's view on the subject in the next week.