"Orwellian Schemes"?

"A graduate is taking legal action against the government over a scheme which she says forces people to do unpaid work." via BBC

I'm really struggling with this report that was just on the news. I would love to hear a bit more from Cait - the aforementioned graduate; things like whether she has worked before, what experience she already has and what sort of job she wants. 

I'd like to ask her whether she had to work during her degree, and where she got money from to support herself during those three years. I'd like to find out how difficult it is to find work in her field and what other students from her graduating year are now doing.

I'd like to ask whether she believes she is entitled to JSA until she finds a job exactly in her field. I'd be interested to find out why she thinks the Job Centre is the right place to find a graduate career. I'd like to hear how she spends her time when she's not volunteering at a museum. Is she improving herself, creating a kick-ass CV, keeping on top of her field?

I don't like to criticise without knowing these facts. 

But.

Man.

I...

I can't get over feeling that this STINKS of entitlement.

I detest the idea of unpaid internships, of which this government scheme is a dumbed-down version. But sometimes, just sometimes, you have to get over yourself and do what is necessary. Which means taking a job beneath your skill level. Which means working hard, finding opportunities and taking things in your stride. Because everything you do should further you, whether you are only working towards the next pay cheque or bettering yourself to move up the ladder. 

  

I'm not saying Cait should have just got on with it. She obviously felt insulted by it, but no-one walks into a graduate job. Even the people who seem to do so have usually been working their a*ses off for 3+ years. Perhaps working a job alongside their degree. Perhaps working two jobs whilst also developing a portfolio of work in their own time. Perhaps working hard on an extra-curricular activity that turns out to be the thing they do for the rest of their lives, the degree being a leg up or a period of time to develop.

So what should a graduate expect from a government funded partnership scheme? Well, you certainly shouldn't assume they'll give you something awesome. Especially when that scheme is contracted through a large company. When you enter a framework that expects conformity, through a scheme administered by a big business, where does it say that they have to give you exactly what you want?

Cos that scheme? The whole structure of it? It ain't about what the lowly job seeker wants, is it?