Hello everyone, recently I've got an internship at a starchitect firm in Tokyo. The working hours are typical (10-midnight, Mon-Sat) and unpaid as generally. However, since I'm also doing my exchange semester, I can't commit as a full-time intern. I requested them if it was possible to adjust my working hours and let me join as a part-time intern. I received their answer back. They asked if I wanted to get paid as a part-time intern or just want to adjust my working times. I'm super confused and frustrated now. I didn't mention anything about financial stuff beside the working hours (because I understood it and had prepared for it). What do they mean? Anyone has the same experience? I'm not sure how it works. Why does a full-time intern get nothing? And a part-time may have a chance to be paid?
Thank you.
natematt
Feb 26, 17 3:25 am
Maybe they think you are trying to negotiate haha
If there is one theme to this forum though, it is don't work for free.
archietechie
Feb 26, 17 4:30 am
"Why does a full-time intern get nothing?" - Because fools compromise.
Besides, Japan is notorious for their unpaid internships. At least the western hemisphere has laws preventing such nonsense.
Non Sequitur
Feb 26, 17 6:29 am
Idiots take unpaid internships.
geezertect
Feb 26, 17 3:26 pm
They are asking whether you demand 100 percent of zero, or will you settle for 50 percent of zero. Be a tough guy architect negotiator and go for the higher amount (whichever it is).
ivorykeyboard
Feb 26, 17 6:03 pm
10 am to midnight, monday to saturday? typical hours? unpaid? what the shit? no just no.
there are plenty of big firms and smaller local firms looking for interns and willing to pay $12 - 17.50 an hour + overtime. why are people so easily suckered into the starchitecture slave machine?
the one caveat is REX... see below
EMPLOYMENT For employment inquiries, please send a single PDF containing your REX application, cover letter (addressed to REX), CV, and work samples via email to employment@rex-ny.com. Please put only your name in the subject line. REX does not accept hand-delivered or couriered applications. No phone calls, please. REX does not accept offers for unpaid internships. This practice devalues our profession and provides lawbreakers an unfair market advantage.
natematt
Feb 26, 17 8:04 pm
^REX is based in New York. The explicitness of that commentary on their site makes me like them as a firm much more.
Japan is much worse than the US for this because it's not only legal, but there seems to be a cultural acceptance of. Many of the big name architecture firms openly do not pay or even offer real jobs to their interns (Sanaa in particular has been brought up on this forum many times). Its hard for me to respect the firm, even their design, if they don't pay people. There are a lot of firms that could do just as nice of stuff if they didn't have to pay people....
randomised
Feb 27, 17 4:14 am
The poster-boy of social design, Pritzker winning Aravena doesn't pay his slaves either, oh the irony...
TeenageWasteland
Feb 26, 17 8:38 pm
It's a cultural thing in Japan. Would their international clients care or know about this practice ....who knows.
Modern-day slavery at its best.
randomised
Feb 27, 17 4:19 am
It's basically an extension of studio at arch.school, no life, no sleep, and in the end you're left with a huge debt.
Maybe Japanese students/graduates can afford to work like this because their education is less expensive than in the States and they see this as a useful investment in their career, but as an outsider I really don't (want to) get it.
We do unpaid internships in my office... for high-school students.
We literally just throw money away to do it, because they don't work on anything real, and we spend time helping them. (they get credit or something so it's legal) This is the only reasonable situation to do unpaid internships, when the firm literally gets no monetary value out of it.
(our real interns get paid pretty well)
Quentin
Feb 27, 17 10:44 am
10am to midnight? just LOL
archietechie
Feb 27, 17 11:22 am
You'd be surprised, it might even stretch to the following days during crunch time. The asian market is
pretty competitive like that.
starrchitect
Mar 1, 17 6:46 pm
What kind of gimp still takes an unpaid internship these days? I thought those days were over.
Hello everyone, recently I've got an internship at a starchitect firm in Tokyo. The working hours are typical (10-midnight, Mon-Sat) and unpaid as generally. However, since I'm also doing my exchange semester, I can't commit as a full-time intern. I requested them if it was possible to adjust my working hours and let me join as a part-time intern. I received their answer back. They asked if I wanted to get paid as a part-time intern or just want to adjust my working times. I'm super confused and frustrated now. I didn't mention anything about financial stuff beside the working hours (because I understood it and had prepared for it). What do they mean? Anyone has the same experience? I'm not sure how it works. Why does a full-time intern get nothing? And a part-time may have a chance to be paid?
Thank you.
Maybe they think you are trying to negotiate haha
If there is one theme to this forum though, it is don't work for free.
"Why does a full-time intern get nothing?" - Because fools compromise.
Besides, Japan is notorious for their unpaid internships. At least the western hemisphere has laws preventing such nonsense.
Idiots take unpaid internships.
They are asking whether you demand 100 percent of zero, or will you settle for 50 percent of zero. Be a tough guy architect negotiator and go for the higher amount (whichever it is).
10 am to midnight, monday to saturday? typical hours? unpaid? what the shit? no just no.
there are plenty of big firms and smaller local firms looking for interns and willing to pay $12 - 17.50 an hour + overtime. why are people so easily suckered into the starchitecture slave machine?
the one caveat is REX... see below
EMPLOYMENT
For employment inquiries, please send a single PDF containing your REX application, cover letter (addressed to REX), CV, and work samples via email to employment@rex-ny.com. Please put only your name in the subject line. REX does not accept hand-delivered or couriered applications. No phone calls, please. REX does not accept offers for unpaid internships. This practice devalues our profession and provides lawbreakers an unfair market advantage.
^REX is based in New York. The explicitness of that commentary on their site makes me like them as a firm much more.
Japan is much worse than the US for this because it's not only legal, but there seems to be a cultural acceptance of. Many of the big name architecture firms openly do not pay or even offer real jobs to their interns (Sanaa in particular has been brought up on this forum many times). Its hard for me to respect the firm, even their design, if they don't pay people. There are a lot of firms that could do just as nice of stuff if they didn't have to pay people....
The poster-boy of social design, Pritzker winning Aravena doesn't pay his slaves either, oh the irony...
It's a cultural thing in Japan. Would their international clients care or know about this practice ....who knows.
Modern-day slavery at its best.
It's basically an extension of studio at arch.school, no life, no sleep, and in the end you're left with a huge debt.
Maybe Japanese students/graduates can afford to work like this because their education is less expensive than in the States and they see this as a useful investment in their career, but as an outsider I really don't (want to) get it.
"Fees at the élite University of Tokyo (Todai) range from £3,520 a year for undergraduates and postgraduates to £5,300 for school of law students, with a £1,800 admission fee." https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/international/asia/japan/
We do unpaid internships in my office... for high-school students.
We literally just throw money away to do it, because they don't work on anything real, and we spend time helping them. (they get credit or something so it's legal) This is the only reasonable situation to do unpaid internships, when the firm literally gets no monetary value out of it.
(our real interns get paid pretty well)
10am to midnight? just LOL
You'd be surprised, it might even stretch to the following days during crunch time. The asian market is pretty competitive like that.
What kind of gimp still takes an unpaid internship these days? I thought those days were over.