Lilly
15-03-10, 01:36 PM
Hi guys,
I am saddened that in a time when the economy needs people to stand together, that some companies are using innocent graduates to soldier through the downturn.:confused:
According to BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8565287.stm), a lot of companies (mostly London) take on graduates in “intern” positions that are unpaid but last months on end luring them with the promise of a paid job.
One company even got away with having half of the staff working as interns. I understand many companies had to make pay-cuts and had to cut their workers, but it isn’t an excuse to take on talented graduates to work 9-5 for free. Most of the kids aren’t even getting travel allowances.
During my studies, I did a couple of months free internships to get a feel of the industry and do some labour…basically doing stuff nobody else wanted to do and never saying no to any opportunity.
That is exactly what an internship is.
You can’t employ graduates as interns for a long period of time when there isn’t a definite chance of a paid job at the end of the internship.:mad:
What do you think?
According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intern):"An intern is someone who works in a temporary position with an emphasis on on-the-job training rather than merely employment (SIH-199), making it similar to an apprenticeship. Interns are usually college or university students, but they can also be high school students or post graduate adults seeking skills for a new career."
"An internship may be either paid, unpaid or partially paid (in the form of a stipend)."
"Internships may be part-time or full-time; typically they are part-time during the university year and full-time in the summer, and they typically last 6–12 weeks, but can be shorter or longer"
I think companies should at least play open cards with graduates about their future at the company after the internship and pay their travel costs. I guess a graduate getting work experience is better off than a graduate that isn’t getting any at all…Or possibly graduates should take on any paid job (http://www.careersandjobsuk.com) where they can learn new skills and wait until the market is better?:confused:
I am saddened that in a time when the economy needs people to stand together, that some companies are using innocent graduates to soldier through the downturn.:confused:
According to BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8565287.stm), a lot of companies (mostly London) take on graduates in “intern” positions that are unpaid but last months on end luring them with the promise of a paid job.
One company even got away with having half of the staff working as interns. I understand many companies had to make pay-cuts and had to cut their workers, but it isn’t an excuse to take on talented graduates to work 9-5 for free. Most of the kids aren’t even getting travel allowances.
During my studies, I did a couple of months free internships to get a feel of the industry and do some labour…basically doing stuff nobody else wanted to do and never saying no to any opportunity.
That is exactly what an internship is.
You can’t employ graduates as interns for a long period of time when there isn’t a definite chance of a paid job at the end of the internship.:mad:
What do you think?
According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intern):"An intern is someone who works in a temporary position with an emphasis on on-the-job training rather than merely employment (SIH-199), making it similar to an apprenticeship. Interns are usually college or university students, but they can also be high school students or post graduate adults seeking skills for a new career."
"An internship may be either paid, unpaid or partially paid (in the form of a stipend)."
"Internships may be part-time or full-time; typically they are part-time during the university year and full-time in the summer, and they typically last 6–12 weeks, but can be shorter or longer"
I think companies should at least play open cards with graduates about their future at the company after the internship and pay their travel costs. I guess a graduate getting work experience is better off than a graduate that isn’t getting any at all…Or possibly graduates should take on any paid job (http://www.careersandjobsuk.com) where they can learn new skills and wait until the market is better?:confused: