Take a Stand and Make Them Pay You

Рет қаралды 7,691

4 жыл бұрын

How many times do I read "This will look great on your CV" in emails from private companies offering unpaid internships, or from university departments asking PhD students to organise their conferences, or from magazines asking for articles? They can get away with it as long as we suckers fall for it, so take a stand and demand to be paid, or tell them to move along.
This is part of a series of videos I've made about financial matters for postgraduate students, see more here: • Money Matters
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New video every other Wednesday (ish), please comment if there's a topic you'd like to see discussed!
Got a question for me?
Twitter: @LeKissick
Website: www.lucykissick.co.uk
Contact: www.lucykissick.co.uk/contact
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Credits music by the ever-talented Silent Island from their album Fall of Oceans!
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My name is Lucy Kissick, I'm a final-year PhD student at the University of Oxford (or DPhil candidate as they call us there, to be contrary), and I'm making an active effort to be less agreeable - look at me go.

Пікірлер: 31

@hajarchamseddine7554 4 жыл бұрын

Greaaaat talk!! Finally someone is speaking up about these "volunteering positions"

@lecliche8849 4 жыл бұрын

Excellent. Work is an economic exchange. I work, you pay me. -- I was once offered an unpaid job by a business school, indeed, one of the best business schools in Europe. It would look great on my CV. LOL. I did tell them straight out. I will only work if I get paid. They employed me. I've never looked back and never worked for free. Great video Lucy.

@Stopinvadingmyhardware 2 жыл бұрын

It actually doesn’t look good on your CV. It looks like you’re desperate or delusional.

@passionspotatoes9182 4 жыл бұрын

I love the way you talk and articulate yourself! Could you do more videos on money saving, I really liked your video on saving for a house.

@KevinHosford 4 жыл бұрын

100% correct! It's so easy for for early PhD students to say yes just to impress and show they are of value. But to be honest, much of this amounts to very little.

@thefrancophilereader8943 4 жыл бұрын

Yes! We women are particularly short changed. I will remember to ask for what I deserve - kindly.

@ThePhDiaries 4 жыл бұрын

Women are more likely than men to be agreeable, and agreeable people are paid less, but I think this is a cultural problem that we're all struggling with together

@christyanne8322 4 жыл бұрын

It’s definitely worth asking if a conference or supporting/sponsoring org. has a stipend for presenters who are students! I almost missed out on a conference because it would cost me around $900 of my own $ for flights and other expenses. Sent a quick, *polite* email and was told they had the funds to provide around $800 /student.

@user-xn2hf9re8r 4 жыл бұрын

absolutely - this is what I've been saying to fellow students for months. Problem is some students fall for the ego massaging and they are the ones who are letting us all down, if we all demanded a fee that would set the standard.

@backyardbiology5894 3 жыл бұрын

My favorite thing about this video is that the inspirational Batman movie quote was something the Joker said.

@HandyAndyTechTips 4 жыл бұрын

100% agree with this. Great video.

@geologyjohnson7700 4 жыл бұрын

If it's worth doing, it's worth paying for. Even if they pay you in eels.

@oxygenwarlord9277 3 жыл бұрын

Ooh I kinda need some eels

@robbertou 3 жыл бұрын

You are learning :)

@chrisgibson3521 4 жыл бұрын

I appreciate your comments but also wish to balance them. Obviously, if someone needs employment, volunteering is probably not the way to go, but volunteering has both negatives and positives. Negatively, there are predatorial organizations and publishers out there. We need to be wise, but I have two positive examples from own experience. First, while I was completing my degree, I also began volunteering with an organization that I believed in, and it did turn into one of the highest paying positions that I've had. Second, I am currently publishing a series of articles for free with a publisher. My deal with them is that I own the copyright after it is published in the printed edition of the periodical, which means that I can expand and publish it as a book once the series of articles is complete, and in the process, I am getting free editing by the editorial staff. So, I just want to be balanced in my approach to volunteering. I really enjoy your channel and the way it prompts me to reflect on my experiences. Thank you!

@Stopinvadingmyhardware 2 жыл бұрын

They’re basically saying they have no money, and no customers lined up. Ditch them.

@sx5572 4 жыл бұрын

so true.. even when you collaborate with some who decided to pay you, they still try to negotiate with you and would like to take advantage of you in some ways... do stand still and say no if that is not reasonable for you.

@Biomeducated 4 жыл бұрын

*Brilliant advice!* Now, I don't have much to complain about as the PhD stipend in Belgium is more than satisfying, especially in my case where I could drag along my years of experience in biotech R&D. Still I would indeed NOT have it to write something for 4-5 hours that isn't a research article, grant application or thesis (what PhD students should mostly be writing ;)). Like the video creation on the side doesn't already cost time as well, right? Doing science communication and attracting others into our fields is a *choice*, and bl**dy hell, if external companies or blogs or whatever would like to make use of our skills we've enforced and optimized *on our own*, they are the first ones who should act professionally. Damn those parasites! They deserve a heavy immune response!

@mariannkomlos8513 4 жыл бұрын

Yaayy! Go Lucy, I absolutely agree, I am just in the middle of my PhD and of agreeing on everything because "it could be beneficial for the future", but I will stop now and think for a moment next time before I automatically say yes to something. Thank you for your content and good luck for your PhD! :)