It has been heard time and time again for internship applicants "you need more experience in the political field to get this internship, and I see you only have experience as a barista."
How does one get experience without at least being offered an internship first? And some internships require other internships in a cycle resulting in jumping from unpaid internship to unpaid internship.
In such a world it is vital to search for paid work. Many college students and post college students work in fields such as baristas, fast food workers, daycare workers, retail workers and the list goes on. These are not their chosen career fields, but are fields to help save money for school.
I understand that Human Resources offices receive thousands of applicants and only have a few seconds to review a resume in a very competitive field, but think of how many college students have resumes that look like this
Barista- Starbucks
Child Teacher Assistant- Fairy Tale Daycare
Waitress- Fancy Restaurant
This does not mean they are any less of government students, or history students. They have studied government and politics, their heart is in that field and they have the capability to succeed if you give them a chance. Then if they are looking for a year or more after graduation many internships dismiss them because "oh you worked for retail for a year, that is your career now."
Sadly the internship world is very out of touch with the university graduate world. I had a wonderful internship abroad and I was lucky to have that chance.
Most college graduates cannot even afford one internship, and the jobs they get are intended to pay for their internships. Meanwhile they get laughed at and mocked for being in jobs outside their fields.
I realize that students are supposed to find transferable skills, but many HR resume readers cannot get past the title "barista" and immediately peg that individual into a role for life.
A honest job that pays is better than no job. After university, most students have excessive student loans to pay off. George Washington once said "[Avoid] likewise the accumulation of debt."
It is the financially responsible thing to pay back student loans, and getting a job outside my field does not mean i'm any less of a political activist. It means that I have loans to pay off, and am learning different skills while i'm at it. This does not mean I want to stay here for life as a career.
To the HR offices screening interns, I realize that thousands of young qualified people descend on you every semester asking for an internship in DC. Please do not dismiss people because their past experience involves jobs to help pay for school. Not everybody can afford to intern every summer, and volunteer in their career path. For many people they live too far away from their career path to have easy access to related volunteer work. This should not disqualify them from achieving their dreams, instead of labelling people as "just baristas" or "just a daycare worker" look at what they studied, look at what their talents and goals are. Help them to achieve their dreams because they may someday make a better life for all of us.
(As a disclaimer nothing wrong with people who want to pursue those fields as careers. This article is about college students using these as summer jobs and trying to apply to internships)
