What do you do for a living?

[Small White Car]

A corporate video producer/director

I do a lot of things:


Advertising: Caveman Vlog

Employee Entertainment: Associate Music Video

Recruiting: Iowa Office Introduction

 

[Scout101]

As of midnight tonight (unless Congress pulls their heads out of their asses), either temporarily unemployed, or a Volunteer Engineer for the Navy...

 

[Australis]

IT, have been for some time, and right now working for a big, big company (multinational). Yes, I'm working for The Man.

Also hoping to bust out into my writing career soon. If not, well, it'll be something to do when I retire.

 

[BlobVanDam]

I am a freelance 3D animator, making 3D videos for rock concerts, commercials, DVDs etc.

 

[Lindley]

Why not. though by the sound of it, the intern won't miss you too much. You should take it easy on those guys, its bad enough they don't get paid.

Depends on the internship. I've got an intern working sixteen hours a week for me (she handles our online calendar of events, gathers information for our partner and visitor e-newsletters and other duties as assigned), and she gets paid $11 an hour.

$11 an hour is some nice pocket change, but it isn't going to pay the bills. So the distinction between an internship and a real job is still greater than the distinction between a paid or unpaid internship.

Internships may be good opportunities for those who are still in school and don't need to entirely support themselves, but be careful----if you're looking for actual money, try to avoid the "internship" listings.

 

[marillion]

I am the public relations coordinator for the New Mexico State Forestry Division. I also serve as the fire information officer for the State of New Mexico.

Overworked and paid a pittance, but I love my job.

 

[Spot's Meow]

$11 an hour is some nice pocket change, but it isn't going to pay the bills. So the distinction between an internship and a real job is still greater than the distinction between a paid or unpaid internship.

Wow, I'd have to disagree there! I have lived off less than $11 an hour for several years now. I don't have kids and I can't afford to own a home, but I'd hardly consider my entire wages "pocket change." It's a lot more than minimum wage and I would love to be earning that much. I'd love to be earning a lot more obviously, but you take what you can get. I think you underestimate how many people are living on this amount or even less. I don't mean to sound defensive, it just ticks me off a bit when people aren't aware of how lucky they are to be earning what they do.

 

[TheBrew]

To be fair, it is for 16 hours a week which is 37% less than working a full week at minimum wage.

Plus it also depends on where you live, of course.

 

[Spot's Meow]

To be fair, it is for 16 hours a week which is 37% less than working a full week at minimum wage.

Plus it also depends on where you live, of course.

Yeah, 16 hours a week would be tough to get by on. I was working about 25 hours a week at that amount, but I usually had some money left over at the end of the month, so I could possibly have lived on less. And I live in one of the most expensive regions in the country. I don't even earn that much anymore, now I work only 18 hours a week at about $8.50, and I get by because my boyfriend pays half the living expenses. I'd feel positively rich to be earning $11 an hour and working over 20 hours again.

 

[Lindley]

I get by because my boyfriend pays half the living expenses.

That certainly would help. The condo I'm in costs $900/month (including my share of TV, gas, internet, etc); an $11/hour job, say half time at 20 hours per week, would gross you about $880 in a month. Take 25% out for tax withholding, and I wouldn't even be able to afford the rent, much less food or leisure activities or retirement savings.

The other thing to watch out for with internships is that many times, they won't come with the benefits that a normal employee would have at the same company. No 401k, no health insurance, not even paid vacation time.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I get by because my boyfriend pays half the living expenses.

That certainly would help. The condo I'm in costs $900/month (including my share of TV, gas, internet, etc); an $11/hour job, say half time at 20 hours per week, would gross you about $880 in a month. Take 25% out for tax withholding....

I'm just saying, it's doable. And many people have no choice and would jump at the chance for that paid internship. A paid or unpaid internship would mean the difference between buying groceries or not. It's just hard for me to hear people say they don't understand how someone can live on a certain amount when I and many others do it every day and we aren't falling on the street homeless with rags as clothes. You just pay for the essentials and don't buy any luxuries (luxuries include leisure and retirement savings).

Oh, and did I mention I have a Master's degree? Hopefully all of this changes soon as I have an important job interview coming up.

And with the no health insurance thing...many of my friends have no health insurance, it's just a fact of life. You just hope that you don't get injured while waiting to find that "real job." I am grateful that since I am 25 I have an extra year on my parents' health insurance due to the new health care bill.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

To be fair, it is for 16 hours a week which is 37% less than working a full week at minimum wage.

Plus it also depends on where you live, of course.

Yeah, 16 hours a week would be tough to get by on. I was working about 25 hours a week at that amount, but I usually had some money left over at the end of the month, so I could possibly have lived on less. And I live in one of the most expensive regions in the country. I don't even earn that much anymore, now I work only 18 hours a week at about $8.50, and I get by because my boyfriend pays half the living expenses. I'd feel positively rich to be earning $11 an hour and working over 20 hours again.

Back when I was single and in college, I lived on my own and worked two jobs, one paying $10 an hour and another paying $5.15 an hour. It was very, very tight. I managed to do it for a couple years before the tuition went up so much I couldn't afford it--and loans didn't go up along with it, so I was left owing the school more than I could possibly come up with, and had to drop out. Ah well.

But yeah, it can be definitely be done.

 

[Spot's Meow]

To be fair, it is for 16 hours a week which is 37% less than working a full week at minimum wage.

Plus it also depends on where you live, of course.

Yeah, 16 hours a week would be tough to get by on. I was working about 25 hours a week at that amount, but I usually had some money left over at the end of the month, so I could possibly have lived on less. And I live in one of the most expensive regions in the country. I don't even earn that much anymore, now I work only 18 hours a week at about $8.50, and I get by because my boyfriend pays half the living expenses. I'd feel positively rich to be earning $11 an hour and working over 20 hours again.

Back when I was single and in college, I lived on my own and worked two jobs, one paying $10 an hour and another paying $5.15 an hour. It was very, very tight. I managed to do it for a couple years before the tuition went up so much I couldn't afford it--and loans didn't go up along with it, so I was left owing the school more than I could possibly come up with, and had to drop out. Ah well.

But yeah, it can be definitely be done.

This is the position a lot of people I know are in at the moment. Luckily I've finished my degrees so that's one expense off the table. Of course if you have a choice between a great "real job" with benefits and an $11 an hour internship you would take the real job, but I don't know many people who actually get a choice like that. Right now I have a choice between $8.50 or nothing (I continue to search for other jobs of course), so it is better than nothing. You do what you have to, even if that means taking a roommate (I'm just lucky that I happen to be in love with mine!).

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Yeah, 16 hours a week would be tough to get by on. I was working about 25 hours a week at that amount, but I usually had some money left over at the end of the month, so I could possibly have lived on less. And I live in one of the most expensive regions in the country. I don't even earn that much anymore, now I work only 18 hours a week at about $8.50, and I get by because my boyfriend pays half the living expenses. I'd feel positively rich to be earning $11 an hour and working over 20 hours again.

Back when I was single and in college, I lived on my own and worked two jobs, one paying $10 an hour and another paying $5.15 an hour. It was very, very tight. I managed to do it for a couple years before the tuition went up so much I couldn't afford it--and loans didn't go up along with it, so I was left owing the school more than I could possibly come up with, and had to drop out. Ah well.

But yeah, it can be definitely be done.

This is the position a lot of people I know are in at the moment. Luckily I've finished my degrees so that's one expense off the table. Of course if you have a choice between a great "real job" with benefits and an $11 an hour internship you would take the real job, but I don't know many people who actually get a choice like that. Right now I have a choice between $8.50 or nothing (I continue to search for other jobs of course), so it is better than nothing. You do what you have to, even if that means taking a roommate (I'm just lucky that I happen to be in love with mine!).

Yeah, I've done the roommate thing, and it was almost always more trouble than it was worth. Almost every single roommate I ever had would quickly lose their job (mostly by being a shiftless layabout) then wait for me to lose my patience with them not paying rent, bills, or for any food, while they trash my place and eat everything. After going through that a few times I said "fuck it, no more."

Then, I moved to NJ and had to room with some people anyway. But I didn't care, I kept to myself and saved up until I could get out of there and get my own space.

 

[Timby]

Why not. though by the sound of it, the intern won't miss you too much. You should take it easy on those guys, its bad enough they don't get paid.

Depends on the internship. I've got an intern working sixteen hours a week for me (she handles our online calendar of events, gathers information for our partner and visitor e-newsletters and other duties as assigned), and she gets paid $11 an hour.

$11 an hour is some nice pocket change, but it isn't going to pay the bills. So the distinction between an internship and a real job is still greater than the distinction between a paid or unpaid internship.

Internships may be good opportunities for those who are still in school and don't need to entirely support themselves, but be careful----if you're looking for actual money, try to avoid the "internship" listings.

That's why we cap our interns at sixteen hours a week, so they aren't barred from getting another job while still in school.

The other thing to watch out for with internships is that many times, they won't come with the benefits that a normal employee would have at the same company. No 401k, no health insurance, not even paid vacation time.

Uh, no kidding. That's the whole point of an internship -- getting work and educational experience. I've never heard of an intern working 40+ hours a week (generally the threshold for benefits like that). Hell, I've never even heard of interns working more than 20 hours a week.

 

[Lindley]

Some companies provide partial benefits to part-time employees.

My point was a caution to those looking for actual jobs in this economy, not anything your typical student-looking-for-experience needs to worry about.

 

[lurok]

Intern = cheap labor. Well, increasingly so here in UK...

 

[KJbushway]

Speaking of which. If anybody goes to work for E news tell one of the anchor girls to not talk about anything besides fashion. In the mist of British poeple protesting becuase of cuts, The E news anchor lady says Please protesters don't ruin the wedding its expensive and theres a lot of money in it.

 

[Capn Flukie]

$11 an hour is some nice pocket change, but it isn't going to pay the bills. So the distinction between an internship and a real job is still greater than the distinction between a paid or unpaid internship.

Wow, I'd have to disagree there! I have lived off less than $11 an hour for several years now. I don't have kids and I can't afford to own a home, but I'd hardly consider my entire wages "pocket change." It's a lot more than minimum wage and I would love to be earning that much. I'd love to be earning a lot more obviously, but you take what you can get. I think you underestimate how many people are living on this amount or even less. I don't mean to sound defensive, it just ticks me off a bit when people aren't aware of how lucky they are to be earning what they do.

I make $11 an hour, but only 20 hours a week, it's a real bitch to get the bills paid. The hours are all over the place, so fitting in a second part-time job is next to impossible.

 

[KJbushway]

Sorry.