An internship can be an opportunity to gain valuable experience, but too many young women are being shut out of this opportunity because they are more likely to be offered low paid work or zero hours contracts.
At Young Women’s Trust we work to ensure young women are free to make real choices about doing rewarding work. And we practice what we preach.
So we are delighted to introduce Anna, our new paid Services and Participation Intern. Here Anna reflects on her first week at work and why the opportunity to take up a paid, flexible internship is opening doors for her.
You never know where life will lead you. Doing coaching sessions with Work It Out helped me to articulate where my interests and skill sets lie – this gave me the confidence I needed to apply for the internship at Young Women’s Trust when I saw it advertised online. This would have been out of the question for me if it was unpaid like most internships, as I have a young son and must juggle family and work life.
Family-friendly, flexible opportunity
I was really impressed that the role was offering a salary above the living wage for London and had the option to work flexible hours. Knowing that before I applied was key. As a young mother I feel like there are not enough jobs out there for people like me that offer the London living wage – and the ones that do are almost never flexible.
Before I found this internship I had been feeling really disillusioned with work. I felt at a loss when I considered what I could do in the future. It seemed like my only options were to stay on benefits till my son went to school or to apply for a job that wouldn’t really give me joy and was just there to pay bills and childcare.
Getting an interview
After being accepted for an interview I tried really hard not to get ahead of myself — but I could really visualize myself working for Young Women’s Trust and started to enjoy what that might look like!
At the interview, everything was very clear in terms of working hours, pay and flexible start and finish times so I knew I could make the job work.
Dreaming about the Northern line
After the interview I was so excited about the job I started to dream about commuting on the Northern line in the morning – that’s just how enthusiastic I was! – and sharing a laugh over a cup of tea in the YWT kitchen.
I didn’t stop dreaming until I got the call to say I was being offered the internship. Sometimes dreaming can get you just where you need to be.
Stay tuned to our blog for more about Anna’s journey. For more updates on how we’re opening doors for young women sign up to the Young Women’s Trust newsletter.
