Why I Regret Doing an Unpaid Internship

Three reasons why unpaid internships aren’t great

Fresh out of university, I had my heart set on becoming a successful editor. I had the degree, I love books, and I’d just moved to London. How hard could it be? It didn’t take long for me to realise, it’s very, VERY hard.

After crafting over 30 internship cover letters to publishing companies, I still hadn’t had a single response. All my friends were landing £40,000-a-year graduate schemes in banking, working for well-known advertising agencies, and even getting promoted twice.

So when I was finally offered a three-week internship in the editorial department of a top publishing firm, I took it. I didn’t even care that it wasn’t paid. Fast-forward six months. I had four unpaid publishing internships under my belt, but still no job.

Here’s why those unpaid internships were a complete waste of time.

1. I didn’t actually learn anything

At my first internship, I spent a whole morning hunting for a magazine that was no longer in stock.

At my second internship, I opened hundreds of copies of Boris Johnson’s new book for him to sign. They promised that I’d get to meet him. I didn’t.

I spent the duration of the third internship cold-calling independent bookshops (a skill I didn’t need, plus it gave me anxiety). And the most exciting thing to happen during the fourth was my manager falling off her chair.

Other than becoming besties with the Royal Mail and mastering four different coffee machines, I didn’t gain any useful workplace skills or industry knowledge.

Here’s the truth: If an employer doesn’t value you enough to pay you for your time, they aren’t going to give you any valuable work.

2. All work and no pay

Each employer ‘paid’ me books. Stacks of books. A nice gesture, but books don’t pay the rent.

London is expensive. According to SpareRoom.com, the average monthly rent for a room in 2026 is £995. Back then, it was much less but still expensive for the time. If I weren’t living in my aunt’s spare room, working for free would’ve been a real struggle.

It wasn’t just hurting my bank account. Juggling a five-day working week with a part-time waitressing job takes its toll. I was tired ALL the time. Whilst my friends headed to the pub after work, I spent my evenings on my feet working for minimum wage.

The thing is, I was being paid decent money to balance three plates on one arm (a personal best), yet I was paid nothing for all the hard work I put into my internships. Was this fair? Nope.

3. Interns are disposable

I left university feeling really confident and looking forward to starting my career. Six months later, I was still unemployed, wondering what I had done wrong. The real part? It really wasn’t my fault.

I’d been told to ‘make yourself indispensable’. But despite carrying out every task to the very best of my ability and making the tea with a smile on my face, I was never offered what I came for: a real job.

Then I started hearing colleagues talk about ‘the next intern’, ‘the June intern’ and ‘intern CVs for next year’. It clicked. I was just one in a long line of hopeful graduates, each one going the extra mile to stand out but not making the cut.

The ugly truth is, employers who don’t pay their interns aren’t likely to hire them.

Here’s what I wish I’d known

My first mistake was assuming I just didn’t have the experience to be paid. My second was to let four different companies exploit that. You deserve to be paid.

Those unpaid internships didn't kickstart my career. They delayed it. You might think it’s worth holding on or that it’s the only way to get your dream career. It’s not.

However, an estimated 70,000 internships are filled every year in the UK. A fifth of these are unpaid, which means the remaining 80% of internships ARE paid. So, there’s simply no reason to undersell yourself.

So, how can you get a paid internship?

Paid internships are the norm, so there’s a lot of opportunity to find and apply for one. Here’s how:

• Use Higherin. We have loads of paid internships available right now. Filter by industry and location

• Join an insight day. Insights are a great way to get in front of employers, understanding what they look for in their candidates and what their roles actually entail. They're short in duration but sweet on your CV

• Tailor your CV and cover letter. This can help you stand out from the crowd. Tailoring means you’ve read the job description.

• Get a LinkedIn. It’s a must-have, offering access to industry professionals, recruiters, and opportunities. The best part is, it’s free. Read our guide to creating a LinkedIn profile worthy of impressing recruiters.

We only support paid internships

At Higherin, we’ll only work with employers who pay all their employees a fair wage. These employers are better because they actually want to make sure you get the most out of your internship. This means more mentoring, more responsibility and more learning.​

With more and more companies now offering competitive salaries, interns should expect to start on an average wage of £20,500 pro rata.