When I was 23 and desperate to break into the magazine world, I turned down an internship at Time, Inc.
An undergrad professor and long-time columnist for Sports Illustrated set up an interview for me with one of the big-time editors there.
This professor had taught my Magazine Writing class and was the first person to tell me that I could make a career out of writing.
I had no idea how to do that, of course. But I moved to NYC and commenced applying to "writer" jobs. When this interview came up, I was ecstatic.
One weekend morning, I took the 1 train to 50th Street and walked to the Time Life building, adjacent to Radio City Music Hall and Rockefeller Center.
It was a Devil Wears Prada fever dream. 😈
I had a lovely chat with the editor. I was truly in over my head, but he was kind and asked me a lot of questions about my writing. And then he explained that the opportunity to work as his part-time assistant was an unpaid internship, and that I would have to be available during random weekdays.
I was already temping as a receptionist during the day and working evening and weekend shifts at the children's section of the Upper West Side Barnes & Noble to afford my half of the rent and a Metrocard (which was $79 a month, omg).
I knew I couldn't hack it as a waitress or bartender.
I couldn't rely on my parents to pay my rent.
I needed a day job.
And so I turned it down.
Nevertheless, I eventually got where I wanted to go, after a two-year detour as a lace salesperson, followed by student-loan-funded graduate journalism school. In J-school, I landed a paid internship at Meredith over the summer; after graduation, I got a full-time role as a local news reporter.
📣 The ability to take a low-paid or unpaid internship is a privilege. 📣
It has nothing to do with work ethic. There's simple math involved for many of us: You need X dollars to survive. There are 24 hours in a day. If you work 8-10 of them unpaid, how can you make X dollars in the remaining waking hours? Sometimes, you can figure it out. I couldn't.
When we talk about the GymShark job or the absurd salary "ranges" posted for jobs from $25,000 to $600,000 or the unpaid "opportunities" lurking around the boards, we're talking about exploitation, but also about privilege.
Many of us don't have the privilege to take these exploitative positions in the first place. We need to stop legitimizing them by crowing about the "access" they provide. Labor is labor and no one should have to work for free to jumpstart their career.
Love this!