I was dreading the moment I’ll have to start looking for an internship. In a world polluted by capitalism, I was fearing that the only internship positions I’d find would be at the marketing department of a wealthy company that would underpay me. Not only was I anxious about interning at a capitalist firm (which would be inconsistent with my personal values), but also upset at the prospect of receiving close to no salary for my labour from a company who could definitely afford paying their interns.
On one glorious day, as I was lurking on LinkedIn out of boredom, and the sun’s gentle caress gave goosebumps to the soft grass by the canal and shone light across my studio, I suddenly came across an internship ad. The ad was for a Social Media & Promotion position at Healthy & Affordable, a project that focuses on saving food in Amsterdam. More specifically, it revives consumable food that otherwise would be wasted by collecting unwanted and unsold food from (super)markets, and transforms it into brand new products. Without thinking twice, I immediately applied. No more than a week later, I had completed the several tests, gone through the application process and officially started my internship at Healthy & Affordable. So, what has my experience been like so far?
- It is a democratically-run organisation.
One of the first things that I noticed is the non-hierarchical structure of the organisation. The lack of hierarchy is embedded in the nomenclature of Healthy & Affordable. There is no CEO, instead we have a “GLUE”: Genuine Love Unifying Everything. Those who would be considered team leaders within a hierarchical organisation, are instead referred to as “specialised GLUE” at Healthy & Affordable and interns are called “padawans”. As such, we decide together. The voice of someone else isn’t louder than yours.
- We have an open feedback culture.
As we don’t have a top down communication structure, but rather an open one (anyone can give feedback), everyone’s input is valued and believed to be of great importance to the continuous improvement of Healthy & Affordable.
- You don’t have a
boss.
You don’t have a manager to whom you have to report, or someone overlooking, monitoring and deciding what you are doing. Instead, you report what you have been up to to your team members.
- You are independent.
Because of our democracy, you have a lot of freedom. You proactively take on responsibilities and as such experiment, and explore a lot more than you would otherwise. This leaves a lot of freedom for true learning, as you’re not robotically completing tasks that were assigned to you by a superior.
- You can work part-time.
Full-time internship positions are a joke. How are you expected to work full-time and being paid 500€/month at most? This reflects the discrepancy between the capitalist mentality and reality. Because Healthy & Affordable is a non-profit company, it isn’t able to provide any type of financial compensation. Thankfully, the organisation is fully aware that next to their internship, students need a stable source of income too. This is why they allow their padawans to work part-time, with no fixed schedule: you choose your own work hours as long as you show discipline, responsibility and pro-activity.
As a financially independent student myself, I am very grateful to have the possibility to contribute to a cause that matters, all while keeping my other paid part-time jobs. Additionally, I experience feelings of accomplishment by being involved in something that truly aligns with my values. Finding the social media coordinator position at Healthy & Affordable was like finding a gem.
