It was one of the biggest political issues of last week; David Cameron and Nick Clegg locked horns over the debate on friends and family members being offered internships, and which became a question of the touchy subject of class, of the level of fairness of the middle-class offering handouts to fellow middle-class members. We all know that both politicians came from such middle-class backgrounds; shortly after Clegg's public condemnation of the view that internships should be offered with priority to friends and family it emerged that he had obtained his first job through his father's connections.
Cameron disagreed with Clegg's hard line on internships, insisting it was 'fine' to give those you know a leg up. "I've got my neighbour coming in for an internship," he declared last week. "In the modern world, of course you're always going to have internships and interns - people who come and help in your office who come through all sorts of contacts, friendly, political, whatever. I think that's fine." He himself freely confessed to having undertaken work experience in his father's stockbroking firm, calling it "a definite leg-up experience". Clegg, however, continues to insist that professional life should be about "what you know, not who you know".
Students will undoubtedly side with either Cameron or Clegg on this one, depending on their individual situations. As a student without useful connections in the industry I hope to work in when I graduate, I somewhat unsurprisingly fall into Clegg's camp, as I believe that we should all be equal in our search for internships, work experience or anything else, and that the bias towards those who maybe haven't worked so hard for opportunities is unfair. However, I can completely see the other perspective; if I did have such connections, of course I wouldn't hesitate to use them to further myself, especially in a torrid job market where you have to stand out and I saw an easy opening through a friend or family member. The issue must come down to an objective reading, and the fact is, unless you are extremely fortunate to personally know David Cameron or Nick Clegg, you are going to have to rely on your own merit to earn your internship or work experience placement. Ultimately, you can be prouder of yourself if you succeed without a Cameron-style "leg-up".
Louise, GRB Journalist
