MONTREAL – After spending most of his savings on a new blue pinstripe suit and pressed white-collared shirt, recent graduate Lewis Carlson feels he has a shot at getting an unpaid internship at a local advertising company.
“I’m worried that, unless I impress them, they won’t let me work for free,” said Carlson, 24, while adjusting his pocket square. “This company has a great reputation.”
Token Advertising, Carlson’s firm of interest, implemented their internship program in 2005. Since then it has gone on to produce hundreds of impressive alumni, some of whom are now being paid.
“They know how to treat their employees right,” explained Carlson. “They’ll even buy you a ride home if you work more than 16 hours in a day. They say it’s so that they can’t be sued if you fall asleep behind the wheel, but I know they really do it because they care.”
Despite spending infinity percent of his potential internship earnings on public transit to get to the interview, and an additional infinity percent on his new wingtips, Carlson still feels that he’s on the right track.
“Sure this puts me almost $700 in the red, but that’s nothing if this internship eventually leads to a part-time position, which gets me one of those primo short-term contracting jobs,” said Carlson. “And hey, maybe if all that works out in 5 or so years you’ll be looking at a newly minted minimum wage worker.”
At press time, the position had gone to the thirty year-old in the $1000 suit.
