The end in nigh!

Hi folks, after several re-extensions to my contract, the final day of my internship as a countryside ranger has arrived.

About 3 weeks ago, I had an interview for the countryside ranger post, however, I was unsuccessful. It all came down to the same old nutshell…..experience (or lack thereof). And so, as of Friday, I will be officially unemployed for the first time.

It’s a rather daunting prospect, but I was the one who gave up their weekend job knowing full-well that my internship was only temporary. But hopefully now that I have some relevant employment experience, I’ll have a much better chance of getting a full-time job that I enjoy and that’s relevant to my degree.

I have gained mega amounts of new skills and experience in the 4 months of my internship, and loved every minute of it. From organising events and volunteer days, to tagging trees and teaching kids and adults about the wildlife and nature right on their doorstep, come rain, wind or shine!

I have learned how to tackle anti-social behaviour, tree fires, poorly owlets and a class full of first years! All really great experience with a few challenges thrown in along the way!

Aswell as working at the country park, I also had the opportunity to help out the Whitelee countryside rangers with different things including their Stroller Striders walking group (above, in my frumpy jumper, or 'frumper', with the biggest dog I have ever walked!) and at their den-building event 'Dirty Dens and Bivvys'.

It may well be the end of my internship, but I shall stick around on the blog and twitter front, offering advice and blogging about my experiences as a graduate with internship experience looking for full-time employment.

As always, you can find me at @kate_intern

For now, adios!

Kate

Should you be complaining?

CSPP Adopt an Intern programme offers paid internships.  Personally I think it is a sad state of affairs when that is a surprising sentence.  For many graduates these days the assumption is that an internship is unpaid unless told otherwise.

I remember vividly my frustration while job searching and seeing all these fantastic sounding jobs that I couldn’t apply for.  Not because I didn’t have skills, experience or enthusiasm necessary, but because I am not rich.  It is rather galling to know that you have worked hard to get good grades and go through university only to come out the other side older, wiser and poorer and yet discover that actually the most important qualification for getting an internship is how much money you have.  Is it 2011 or 1911?  Social mobility be damned.

Despite this, many unpaid interns are not rich.  The competition in the job market has become so fierce that despite graduating from university in quite a lot of debt, undertaking an unpaid internship has become something of a necessity in certain sectors.  Some interns are fortunate enough to live near good opportunities and have supportive parents.  Some have saved up for months on end.  Some work evenings and weekends to pay the bills so they can work for free through the week.  Is this fair though?   The results are large portions of young people in society are unemployed, underemployed or being forced to live as hermits so they can afford to be employed.  Is it any wonder that the number of young people suffering depression is on the rise?

The Economist seems to think that working unpaid is nothing to be complained about - you’re getting an education aren’t you?  Except isn’t that why most people go to university in the first place - to get the education to obtain a good job?  Students are leaving Higher Education with more debt than ever before.  Now they are expected to work for free and put themselves in even more debt.  At what point is it ok to expect to be paid for doing a job?  Graduates - the majority of whom are young people in their early to mid twenties - aren’t greedy, all they ask is for enough money to pay rent, buy food and maybe go to the pub for a drink with their friends every now and again.

I think that it is important to remember that employment is not a one way street.  It is a relationship.  Yes graduates gain valuable experience but employers likewise gain an employee with up-to-date skills, knowledge of new technologies and a desire to learn and contribute.

The article highlights ‘serial interns’, but this situation exists because there is nowhere for interns to go.  People do not repeatedly work for free because they want to.  Unfortunately an internship does not guarantee a permanent position at the end of it.  Graduate jobs are few and far between, particularly in certain sectors.  Earlier today I was frustrated at seeing internships advertise for people with previous experience - missing the whole point of an internship surely?

Internships are a great opportunity to gain experience and learn within an industry but an intern is still contributing to the work of the organisation.  They deserve to be paid.


Agree?  Disagree? Not sure?  Put your comments below or tweet them to me @siobhan_intern

Excel is my new best friend

Hi everyone!  Siobhan here.  I thought it was time to update on how my internship has been progressing.  As is the nature of the public sector, in a state of constant flux, so are the projects that I have been working on, so I have had a bit of a refresh lately!  I am currently working on three different projects.

1)  Continuing my work with Neilston Town Team.  I am working on some feasibility studies for projects just now and looking at funding opportunities

2)  Working with Voluntary Action East Renfrewshire on an Enterprising Third Sector Strategy document.  This is a really interesting and exciting project to work on as I get to be involved in all areas of the third sector from small community groups through to large social enterprises.  We are currently analysing V.A's healthcheck surveys to get an idea of how the third sector looks in East Renfrewshire.  Spreadsheets galore!

3)  I am also looking at funding and project opportunities for East Renfrewshire Community Enterprise Trust (ERCET).  ERCET manages the internship programme on behalf of East Renfrewshire Council and I am looking forward to being involved in some of the projects that they have planned.

My days are really busy just now but I am enjoying learning more about funding.  Working in the public/third sector, this is an essential part of any work that you want to do and will be a really useful skill to have going forward in the job market.  As all of these roles have in depth funding research, I am currently building a funding database that should hopefully cross over and be useful in all of these areas.  More spreadsheets!

Adopt An Intern has been advertising some really interesting roles lately.  I'm excited that graduates are being given the opportunity to gain new skills and bring their own skills to the work place.  What have you thought of the jobs that have been offered?  Have you applied for any?

As ever, you can find me over on Twitter @siobhan_intern.

Siobhan