Am I undervaluing myself?

GA7_2

bristol_pilot wrote: »

In some sectors doing an unpaid internship is just about the only way to get a start, in others it is unheard of. From the little you have posted about this role and company, I'd be concerned that they are just using you as cheap labour especially as it's a start-up and it's not clear that there will be that many seasoned professionals around for you to learn from. On a CV, paid employment always looks better than an internship for the same role, so if you're just going to be flogging stuff you may as well get paid for it and it will look better on your CV. On the other hand if it's an internship shadowing Richard Branson that's another matter. Really, so much depends on the sector and the specifics.

Getting students and graduates to sell stuff in the streets on a commission-only basis and calling it 'marketing' has been going on for years and there is still a steady stream of mugs who keep falling for it. Maybe the new twist is to call it an 'internship'

I presume it is completely within my rights to just pull out at any time? I am not contracted and not paid so I suppose it is totally my right. I just feel kind of bad to do that in a way.... but of course I shouldn't think like that.

Edit: I am working with the company CEO basically daily and the marketing manager once a week. I think that will be pretty much it with occasional meeting with 1 or 2 others.

bristol_pilot

It's a start-up, so anyone can call themselves the CEO, MD, marketing manager etc. Have you seen their CVs? Anyone with a hundred quid can start a company.

GA7_2

bristol_pilot wrote: »

It's a start-up, so anyone can call themselves the CEO, MD, marketing manager etc. Have you seen their CVs? Anyone with a hundred quid can start a company.

No I haven't. Well the so called CEO is the owner of the company, unless they are hiding something. But there are even press reports with his name as the idea and person behind it all.

GA7_2

I sense alot of doubt in this thread which is interesting ... I haven't got much professional work experience to tell so much. But I will certainly think about things.

FBaby

This people have given you a chance to put something on your CV. This is worth so much more than what they can be paying you.

I have been in your situation, gave up a managerial job to retrain and then took on an internship that used me as free labour (only paid expenses) for three months. That was 18 years ago and looking back, what I gained from it by being able to put this experience on my CV which I am confident help me getting interviews in the field I studied is worth so much more than what I loss in little money for 3 months and the disappointment that the job I was promised.

Acc72

GA7 wrote: »

So I don't know - is that right or wrong?

If you are being "rewarded" based on hitting targets, then clearly you need to know exactly what those targets are (otherwise, how will you know if you have hit them or not ? - eg. goalposts can be moved retrospectively).


I speak as somebody with experience of "don't worry, I will look after you" - guess what, they didn't.


I will not comment on the whole Internship debate (particularly with regards to the "reward" for hitting (unknown) targets will be the re-imbursement of your own personal expenses).


The current system is not your "fault" and I actually applaud you that you are doing something constructive to improve your skills, experience and CV (therefore hopefully employability).


Good luck.

theoretica

A similar reward structure for an internship could have been phrased along the lines of your learning is the main aim of this internship and we offer x and y opportunities. However, should your work turn out to be of significant financial value to the company we will acknowledge it at z level. This would seem fair and reasonable to me. Expressing this in 'target' language without being clear on the learning opportunities does worry me.

bristol_pilot

A genuine internship is where someone is allowed to hang around seasoned professionals while they work in the hope of learning something useful.

If you have targets, they are expecting real work from you. It is therefore a job and they are legally obliged to pay you the minimum wage, even if it's 'commission only'. Sounds like a couple of wide boys illegally trying to get the OP to work for nothing to me.

CrowCrow

Er you are clearly being asked to conduct work, that is the only way you can 'hit targets', you're an employee, not an intern, you must be paid NMW.

GA7_2

Interestingly we had a chat today, started off by the CEO. I opened up about certain aspects of the role and we pretty much came to a mutual agreement that we should part ways. I actually feel quite relived about this to be honest, I realised that it wasn't for me at the end of the day.

Thanks for all your help!