Journalist’s union puts spotlight on unpaid internships asking people to speak out
The union representing creative professionals is urging unpaid interns to get in touch if there are concerns the work involved is beyond that of a normal unpaid internship and they are being exploited.
The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance is urging interns to call the union if they think their “work falls outside the bounds of a reasonable internship”.
“MEAA has recently become aware of some unpaid jobs being advertised on websites as ‘internships’ when they are anything but that. Unpaid work like this is a blight on our industry that results in the exploitation of young and vulnerable workers,” union CEO Paul Murphy told Mumbrella.
“Not only are these jobs unpaid, but they often also require the workers to cover their own travel and other expenses.”
For example, here is an unpaid internship ad on Pedestrian for Urban List – is this legal if it is for “student (or recent graduate)”?
https://pedestrian.tv/jobs/media-publishing/intern/1b275bb7-5c6d-4fd8-9c11-f9fbf4970c30.htm
INTERN
Listed by The Urban List
Salary Unpaid
Applications Close July 13
Location Sydney
Work Type Internship/Work Experience
Date Published June 30
APPLICATIONS CLOSE JULY 13, 2015
DESCRIPTION
The Urban List is a ‘go-to guide’ for everything worth eating, drinking, buying and booking in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.
The site is a showcase of the best local businesses the city has to offer: restaurants, cafes, bars, clubs, shopping, health and beauty. Sharing our top spots with authenticity and credibility, courtesy of our talented team of marketing, editorial, sales and design professionals.
We’re growing every day, and we’re looking for awesome interns to help us out!
Key Responsibilities:
– Work closely with the Communications Executive and Marketing Manager to implement effective and creative marketing campaigns, including social media marketing, media and blogger relations, eMarketing, print collateral, events, and general marketing support
– Support the Communications Executive and Content Manager, where required, in generating innovative editorial ideas and content, writing, and uploading stories for The A List
– Support ongoing maintenance of The Urban List database of business listings, ensuring accuracy and consistency
– Be actively aware of potential business additions and/or editorial ideas for The Urban List
– Stay abreast of competitor environment and be proactive with insights, feedback, and suggestions as a result
– Administrative duties to support the function of the office, as required
Key Requirements:
– Current Marketing/Public Relations/Journalism or Creative Industries student (or recent graduate) looking for experience in their chosen field
– Attention to detail and a desire to deliver work of the highest calibre
– Excellent interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills
– Enthusiastic demeanour, actively engaged in generating and executing ideas
– Strong organisational skills and time management
– Actively engaged with local happenings and activities
– Proactive, enthusiastic learner, dedicated to building skills and expertise in digital media and marketing
Please note:
This is an unpaid position with The Urban List Sydney, desired time is one day (9:30am – 4:30pm with a 1-hour lunch break) per week for a three-month period.
Interns will not be required to attend out-of-work functions, and travel/lunch costs are the responsibility of the intern.
The Urban List will gladly accredit this period to any relevant study requirements.
Successful applicants will be asked to bring a laptop to work on.
Boy you really have to be able to manage lots of responsibilities and meet many key requirements to be good enough to get unpaid work eh?
This is really common in media agency land also.
‘Interns’ just doing exactly what a paid assistant would be doing.
Clients pushing costs down and agencies who aren’t prepared to pay their staff what they are worth.
Wow that intern description truly frustrates me! As a uni student who is about to graduate with several internships under my belt, I know firsthand as an intern you want to learn and be taught industry skills to gain experience. My most insightful and valuable internships were those when I got to work directly with Account Executives on real campaigns, learning how things are done.
You don’t learn anything when a company asks you to contribute articles to be used as content because they’re trying to save money by avoiding paying freelance writers/journalists. After completing “work experience” for an online media website, the company wanted me to continue to write for them and reward me with “perks”. I have now been writing for free for over 12 months covering my own travel expenses and I am starting to question whether the “experience” is actually worth it and if I’m being exploited!
Exactly, shouldn’t they just monitor this stuff on the job websites and shut them down before they get applicants?
Disappointed PR, you are. I can’t believe that it has taken you more than 12 months to come to that realisation. Such a role has no future because it doesn’t pay. Walk away now. You’re better off running your own Facebook community page to promote your skills!
The number of unpaid internships advertised on a certain website is astounding – and many are specifically looking for graduates, not students. The writing internships in particular talk about “exposure” – what exposure are they really offering? When they are so blatantly being advertised on a public website, why isn’t it possible for something to be done about this?
Surely this “internship” is a way to get out of paying people for training – how can you do an “internship” in customer support?!
Are you a recent graduate, keen to apply your knowledge in a practical, hands-on role?
Swift Digital is looking for customer support and training interns for our Melbourne office.
This is an unpaid internship. We will provide you with training on our digital marketing software and in digital marketing best practice.
Join us and you will find yourself in the thick of things! Depending on your skills and passions, you could find yourself in support, account management, content writing, sales, product development, web design or programming.
This is an opportunity for a graduate to determine the kind of role that will suit him/her in the digital marketing industry.
Swift Digital has a very good rate of hiring interns – about 30% of our current team are intern graduates. Some have moved into senior roles as their capabilities mature! Training will take place over three weeks and culminate in a final test. A 90% pass rate qualifies you as a candidate for our support team.
The right interns will be: enthusiastic, curious, honest, punctual.
We are also looking for friendly and jovial folks to fit in with our fun team.
Please send cover letter and resume.
Here’s another unpaid from Urban List on Pedestrian in 2014 asking for candidates who have a degree in journalism – can someone who knows please advise if these are OK?
http://www.pedestrian.tv/jobs/.....5f547a.htm
INTERN – MELBOURNE
Listed by The Urban List
Salary Unpaid
Applications Close April 30
Location Melbourne
Work Type Internship/Work Experience
Date Published March 16
APPLICATIONS CLOSE APRIL 30, 2014
DESCRIPTION
The Urban List originally launched in September 2011 as a ‘go-to guide’ for everything worth eating, drinking, buying and booking in Brisbane.
The site is a showcase of the best local businesses the city has to offer – restaurants, cafes, bars, clubs, shopping, health and beauty – sharing our top spots with authenticity and credibility, courtesy of our talented team of marketing, editorial, sales, design, and development professionals.
Our integrity has earned us a loyal and rapidly growing readership, and we are in the process of expanding our operations, bringing this same authenticity and passion for small business to Sydney and Melbourne.
The Urban List Intern is a vibrant and diverse role, working alongside the Communications Executive to support The Urban List team to achieve our goals. Every day is different – you may be supporting the implementation of a marketing campaign one day, and contributing to our social media channels, the next. Or, you might be working on editorial content for The A List and assisting in the management of our hand-selected database of business listings.
The successful candidate will be an excellent communicator, who is ambitious, shows initiative, and is hungry to learn and to work with our team to achieve goals and contribute to business growth.
As a start up organisation, culture is critical. We are looking for an Intern who shares our passion for The Urban List and is eager to work in a fast-paced, exciting environment where growth and change happens daily.
REPORTS TO:
Communications Executive
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
Work closely with the Communications Executive and Marketing Manager to implement effective and creative marketing campaigns, including social media marketing, media and blogger relations, eMarketing, print collateral, events, and general marketing support
Support the Communications Executive and Content Manager, where required, in generating innovative editorial ideas and content, writing, and uploading stories for The A List
Support ongoing maintenance of The Urban List database of business listings, ensuring accuracy and consistency
Be actively aware of potential business additions and/or editorial ideas for The Urban List
Stay abreast of competitor environment and be proactive with insights, feedback, and suggestions as a result
Administrative duties to support the function of the office, as required
Be actively involved in social activities, attending functions and events as a brand ambassador for The Urban List
KEY REQUIREMENTS:
Current Marketing/Public Relations/Journalism or Creative Industries student (or recent graduate) looking for experience in their chosen field
Attention to detail and a desire to deliver work of the highest calibre
Excellent interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills
Enthusiastic demeanour, actively engaged in generating and executing ideas
Strong organisational skills and time management
Actively engaged with local happenings and activities
Proactive, enthusiastic learner, dedicated to building skills and expertise in digital media and marketing
QUALIFICATIONS:
Tertiary qualifications in Marketing, Public Relations, or Journalism underway
TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT:
1 – 2 days per week (ideally 2 days if possible) for a 3-month period with the option to extend
**PLEASE NOTE: ONLY APPLICANTS SUCCESSFUL IN REACHING THE INTERVIEW STAGE WILL BE CONTACTED**
COMPANY NAME – The Urban List
“Internship” is just adoption for a fancy US term for the old “work experience”. In the warehouse, this is the poor bastard who gets the privilege of sweeping the floors, cleaning the bog, emptying the ashtray and making the tea. In the media its the poor bastard who gets to write their arse off for nothing but “experience” and “exposure” saving the management thousands. Oh and they probably get a vacuum cleaner instead of a broom too. And still make the tea.
How about THE LARGE, OVERWHELMING MAJORITY HERE:
http://www.pedestrian.tv/jobs