Getting employed is no longer an easy task for undergraduate students. T

游客2024-11-06  10

问题         Getting employed is no longer an easy task for undergraduate students. That is why some have taken the initiative to work for free internship, to beat against the odds of finding a job. Some experts say this only does more harm than good to undergraduate students, because they are actually setting themselves short. The following article provides detailed information about this issue.
        Write an article of NO LESS THAN 800 words, in which you should:
        1. summarize briefly the article;
        2. give your comment
                                                        When Does Internship Become Labor Exploitation?
        As the "intern economy" grows, young adults, unions, and other workers are starting to ask: When does an internship stop being a mutually beneficial experience and start being free or cheap labor? So why are younger workers increasingly willing to work for free?
        Unemployment among workers 16 to 24 is over 20 percent. That’s the official unemployment rate which means it’s only accounting for young adults actively looking for work. It doesn’t include folks who have given up.
        It gets worse. Youth unemployment has been exceptionally high since 2008. By your early 20s, most employers already expect you to have had some meaningful work experience. But what if the employment opportunities simply didn’t exist for most of your adult life?
        It’s important to realize that 21- to 25-year-olds out there have spent most of their adult lives in a crippling recession with very limited job opportunities. It shouldn’t be too surprising that we’d see a growing number of twenty-somethings, and even older, willing to work for free just to gain work experience that may lead to employability. And that is what we’re seeing.
        Internships can be exactly that: a means to gain real world, professional work experience and make contacts in a chosen industry. However, employers can also easily take advantage of this source of free work.
        Mikael Naramore, owner of Terrestrial Media, a media company in Muskegon, Michigan, has worked on both sides of the internship experience, as an intern and as an employer with an intern. "When I interned, I could dig in and explore my chosen career, learn on-the-job skills, and be exposed to top people in the field, which for me was way better than sitting in a classroom. I truly feel I’m the better for it." When talking about exploitation of interns, Naramore said, "The point of interning is exposure to a professional environment. Including the professionals! Without that experience, it’s just good old fashioned exploitation. It goes too far in my opinion when there’s no oversight and the internment period is open-ended."
        Some unions would agree with the comment about exploitation as they are turning their attention to the overuse of free labor, often from young workers eager to get into the workforce with their skills. Most notably, Huffington Post has been criticized for its widespread use of "interns" or unpaid writing and design staff.
        The U.S. Department of Labor has created a handy, informational page with updated rules and regulations regarding internships, particularly unpaid internships. This is useful for employers who want to make sure they are acting both ethically and legally. And, it’s helpful for workers who want to protect their own interests.

选项

答案                                                                 An Unpaid Internship Pays Off
        As economy downturn eliminates jobs, it’s not easy to land a satisfactory job under fierce competition, especially for young graduates without working experience. As a result, some unscrupulous employers take advantage of innocent students who are willing to take unpaid internships to gain working experience. This practice has caused a few raised eyebrows in the society. Comments regard internships a good way for young graduates to get employment, but the overused free internships are nothing but exploitation. Governmental supervisors also pay attention to this issue and publish a page to inform people of relevant regulations. In my opinion, a free internship would be worthwhile if it related to one’s life ambition.
        To start with, an unpaid internship can be viewed as a stepping stone to a career field one aspires after. It’s not easy to get a desirable job in this bleak job market. The situation is even gloomier if one’s ambition lies in such high-profile industries as journalism, publishing, advertising and so on. In order to enter these professions, working experience is more than often a must Thus, it is advisable for undergraduates to regard a free internship as a foot in the door of their ideal career.
        Moreover, young graduates should consider free internships as an opportunity to accumulate working experience and social connections, which might give them a competitive edge. Interns may be doing something as trivial as typing and photocopying that makes them question the value of the internship, especially when no income is earned. However, through keen observation and active communication, they can make new friends and obtain a wide range of knowledge of the desired profession, which is intangible benefit to interns.
        To conclude, for undergraduates, if they find a way into a well-established company, they should hold the faith that the legitimately unpaid internship will eventually pay off.

解析         材料围绕“无薪实习”展开讨论。大致分为三部分。
        第二至四段分析了年轻人愿意接受无薪实习的原因。当前美国超过两成的二十来岁的年轻人失业(unemployment),因为多数雇主想要有经验的员工。而严重的经济衰退(crippling recession)的环境下工作机会很有限。因此,很多人愿意接受无薪实习以获得工作经验。
        第五至七段介绍了无薪实习被视作免费或廉价劳动力来源的情况。实习确实能让年轻人接触到专业的工作环境(exposure to a professional environment)、认识某些专家以及获取专业工作经验等,但有些雇主趁机利用无薪实习获取免费或廉价劳动力(take advantage… free work)。
        最后一段是政府采取的相关措施,美国劳工部更新了最新的相关法规(updated rules and regulations),帮助职工保护自己的权益。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3833406.html
最新回复(0)