UAL's Student Enterprise & Employability (SEE) team, in partnership with UAL Student Union, the visual arts advice, information and support service Artquest and the campaign group InternAware, has produced a short animation promoting fair internships within the creative industries.
The animation (designed by a UAL graduate) was produced to raise awareness amongst creative industry employers about the importance and value of fair and good practice internships. Unpaid internships remain wide-spread within the creative industries and pose a serious issue within the sector and for creative graduates, students and employers. Unpaid internships present genuine barriers to many students and graduates who cannot afford to work for free and expose a disproportionate amount of creative students and graduates to illegal or damaging working practices and environments. Furthermore, the practice has serious and long term implications for the creative sector as whole, preventing many talented new professionals from entering creative jobs and companies, and placing many employers in breach of employment law.
As of April 2013, UAL no longer advertises unpaid internships on its online jobs and internships board, Creative Opportunities, as a move to support students and graduates gain fair access and continued success in their creative careers.
The film is aimed at an employer audience but is also designed as a resource for graduates and students to assist them when liaising and negotiating with employers in seeking fair and paid internship opportunities.
The Fair Internships Animation is supported by; Creative & Cultural Skills, Creative Skillset, and The Creative Society, and was animated by SokFok Studio.
Further links:
To find out more about courses at UAL by college, level and subject, and for the application process, videos and online galleries across the university, visit the UAL website. Scholarship information is also available online.
Government information on internships: https://www.gov.uk/employment-rights-for-interns Intern Aware: http://www.internaware.org/
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