FPA Connects: Energize panel. Photo by: Emily Reed.
By Halima Sogbesan
The broad debate regarding whether students should accept unpaid internships was part of the panel discussion for the final event of the FPA Connects series held on Wednesday.
“An internship is not equal to volunteerism,” said Elaine Larsen who works for the Capital Hill Group, a government relations firm. She graduated from Carleton with a Bachelor of Public Affairs & Policy Management (BPAPM) degree and a Masters of Political Management (MPM).
“When you are being an intern, you are not being a volunteer. I personally think you should not accept it when an organization is trying to take advantage of young labour by offering unpaid internships,” said Larsen.
Four Carleton graduates who are now professionals in the political realm formed the panel for the “How to Get that Job” event, as part of the FPA Connects series, which focused on civic engagement among FPA undergraduates.
“Any opportunity you have, go for it. Money will come after,” said Michael Qaqish, an Ottawa city councilor for Gloucester-South Nepean and a Carleton psychology alumnus. “A lot of you are interested in being rich at some point, but nobody gets there overnight. The opportunities for people your age are not what they used to be 15 to 20 years ago.”
In his opening address, André Plourde, Dean of the Faculty of Public Affairs, shared his hope “that when you leave Carleton, it will inspire you to take on regional and global challenges, build better societies and to build stronger democracies.”
The discussion also included various views from the panelists regarding the proper ways to network, the value of hard work, writing skills, and pursuing a job in a field one is passionate about.
The panel discussion was moderated by Canadian politics reporter for Vice, Justin Ling.
Kristina Martin, the senior manager of communications at Actua and Ashton Arsenault, the campaign manager for Conservative candidate Andy Wang in the recent federal election were also part of the panel. Both Martin and Arsenault are graduates of Carleton’s Master of Political Management (MPM) program.
