Intern culture: my generation's crisis of self-esteem

I didn't go to college to learn to juggle - but I'm learning the ropes pretty fast. I balance college, a job, living out of  home and interning in an unpaid work placement, all at the same time.

I do it because I don’t really have the time  to stop and think. I do it because the phrase ‘competitive job market’ gets thrown around a lot.  I do it because the daily pressure to perform is always present.

And I do it for free.

Steady employment and a solid income stream after I graduate is my dream. I envision having weekends again, a chance to see friends, a life.  For now these dreams are buried under the reality of a job market that increasingly doesn’t  cater to those who are young and inexperienced.

It is a young persons prerogative to feel hopeful about the future.  Yet, the words "hope" and "future" for many graduates in this country often don't go  hand in hand.

The most recent figures released by the Higher Education Authority show that only 39 per cent of graduates gained employment in Ireland in 2013,  down from 53 per cent in the year before the recession. The number of graduates getting jobs oversees has tripled  from 4 per cent in 2007 to 12 per cent in 2013.

We are experiencing a crisis of esteem and self-worth. After four years of studying we find ourselves asking if we got the "right"  degree, or do we need to spend more getting a masters and, if so, then what?

Our generation has bared witness to the proliferation of ‘intern culture’ an  unpaid work placement that originated from the United States. A lot of our  formative years were spent watching glamorous American reality television that  followed the lives of fashion and publishing interns.

Alongside the Starbucks coffee cup, the Californian drawl and Juicy couture tracksuits was a more  insidious element of employers using young people to work for free.

The amount of time and effort required during an internship is significant. Employers are often not honest about the everyday tasks required of you.

Legally, an intern has little or no rights. An intern is not considered an employee. They don't receive the minimum wage. Neither do they have any holiday entitlements.  They're  often expected to work a full 40-hour week. An intern is not supposed to be doing the work of a regular employee. In reality, this happens all the time.

What's worse, this seems to be Government policy.

The national internship scheme, JobBridge, has been marred in controversy since its inception. Many of the listings currently state a minimum requirement of a degree and some even state a PhD.

This scheme actively encourages students to go on the dole for three months to qualify. If you're under 25 in this country, the allowance is  €144 a week, on top of that 50 is added if you secure a JobBridge.  So in total young people are required to work 40 hour weeks for €200. It doesn’t take an  expert to see that this scheme is taking advantage of young people, especially considering the scandalous cost of renting in many parts of the country.

Intern culture is quickly displacing paid entry-level employment. Rather than one person to do a job, there is a perpetual stream of interns, one replacing the other ad infinitum.

This is stunting our growth both financially and mentally. It  commodifies us and teaches us that we are disposable. It would be more  profitable and realistic for a recent graduate to work in Lidl, which has at least  pledged to pay its staff the ‘living wage’ of €11.50 an hour.

In September 1729, Jonathan Swift penned a short essay entitled ‘A Modest Proposal’ in Dublin.  This satirical essay  was a devastating critique of the extreme poverty on Dublin streets. He wrote of  how the impoverished people might ease their economic troubles by selling their  children as food for rich gentlemen and ladies.

It seems that Ireland has always had a knack of being heartless when it comes to  the marginalised in society. These days there are few options for young people  other than selling ourselves abroad. Before we become just another emigration  statistic, a modest proposal, if not for us, then for the next generation: pay people for the work they do.

That way, they might stay.

Stephanie Costello is a final year student at Dublin Institute of Technology

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