She was not hired for the bold decision of a young woman to show up for an unpaid internship, which has garnered over 291,000 views on TikTok.
In a now-deleted video posted by user mariam (@maraooo1), she shows herself drinking a Starbucks while making a gesture of doing something particularly daring. A text overlay on the video gives viewers the idea that he is on his way to an internship that he was rejected from.
“I got rejected from an unpaid internship, so here I am, grabbing a coffee and going to the internship anyway because (what are they going to do)?” Reads text overlays. “Really pay me?”
According to career data aggregator Zippia, about 40% of the 300,000 people who work on internships each year are unpaid. While some may not be able to stomach the idea of working for free, it is not without benefits. Zippia data also shows that people who have done internships and gained useful work experience are 15% less likely to be unemployed in the first few years after graduation.
Viewers criticized the fact that it was an unpaid internship, pointing to a personal philosophy regarding work and employment.
One commenter wrote, “Really, I have no idea why places offering unpaid internships are so lucrative like we’re literally doing charity work for them.”
“Unpaid internships are criminal,” argued a second. “You are better!”
Others joked that forcing her to go to an internship could have unintended consequences.
“Imagine being forcibly fired from an unpaid internship,” said one user.
“*calls you the police for trespass*,” commented another.
A third wrote, “Take you away from the property and possibly get you arrested for trespassing on private property.”
Daily Dot has contacted Maryam via email for comment regarding the video.
*First published: September 16, 2022, 9:16 am CDT
Brooke Sjoberg
Brooke Sjoberg is a freelance writer for the Daily Dot. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin in 2020.
