PLACEMENTS IN SYDNEY, BEIJING AND SHANGHAI COST UP TO £4,000
Growing numbers of recent graduates are paying thousands of pounds to companies that specialise in securing unpaid work placements overseas. The graduates pay up to £4,000 – often not including flights – to be set up with placements in competitive industries in cities including Sydney, Beijing and Shanghai.
Standout Internships (which I am not linking too because I don’t want to help push them up the Google rankings) offers placements in Sydney in sectors such as finance, banking, law, fashion and event planning. An 11-week summer internship will them will cost you £3,000, including accommodation but excluding flights.
This year, co-founder Jonathan Manning says his company has already fielded 1,000 enquiries from graduates desperate to gain experience. This is how he justifies his business model:
“The fact that students are doing an internship helps them in their applications for a paid job. You need the experience to get the job and if you have to pay for it then it is worth it.”
Another company – CRCC Asia – says it has increased the number of placements it offer (in Beijing and China) fivefold in the last three years. This year, 3,600 young people applied for its 1,300 internships. They pay £1,495 for a month in Beijing and £100 more for Shanghai. The fee covers arranging the placement plus a visa and accommodation. But applicants must pay for their own flights and living costs during their stay.
Campaigners against unpaid internships have universally damned the practice of effectively charging young people for the experience they perceive they need in order to get their first paid job after university.
They said they feared this was the latest development in a worrying trend that is seeing graduates from less well-off backgrounds squeezed out of the race for jobs in competitive industries.
Ben Lyons, co-director of Intern Aware, said:
“It’s incredibly worrying that we’re moving from a situation where people don’t just have t work for fee but are having to pay to work. It puts these experiences and opportunities out of reach of the vast majority of young people.”
Becky Heath, co-founder of Internocracy agreed, saying:
Giving people the chance to pay for an internship actively excludes those who may be just as talented but don’t have the hundreds – often thousands – of pounds which will guarantee them this incredibly valuable introduction to the world of work.”
And Susan Nash, the NUS’s vice president for society and citizenship – and a new friend of Graduate Fog, said:
People shouldn’t have to pay to find work experience that enables them to get into the job market. The Government must wake up to the fact that there needs to be more attention to this area.”
But it seems not everybody agrees these placements are a bad thing. Graduate Sophie Corcut, 23, who studied French and history at Bristol University says she would recommend her Sydney placement with Standout Internships to others. Sophie says she found the £3,500 she needed for the trip using a combination of savings, paid work and a loan of £1,500 from her parents. She said:
“Coming back from China, you’ve got this one thing on your CV that makes you stand out. I suppose it shows you have some get up and go. If you really want to do something you can make the money, however long it takes you.”
Although I expect many Graduate Foggers will find Sophie’s comments irritating, I want to say that I don’t blame her for doing the placement – nor do I ever blame anybody for choosing to do an unpaid internship.
My problem isn’t with the graduates who do these placements – nor with their supposedly ‘sharp elbowed parents’ (Nick Clegg’s phrase). I know you’re only doing what you feel you have to do to get a paid job in this difficult economic climate. And I know your parents are only trying to help you.
My problem is with the companies which continue to ruthlessly exploit young workers, whilst dressing this up as them kindly giving you experience.
As they exploit you, they exclude all your less-well-off friends, who are blocked from these opportunities. Unpaid internships are getting longer and longer, with less and less chance of you getting a job at the end of them. They are pulling down graduate starting salaries. They are giving you the sense that your work is not worth anything – when it is.
My problem is also with this government, which has failed to support you by enforcing the National Minimum Wage, which is designed to protect you.
Politicians, private companies – even charities – can dress it up all they want. Okay, so occasionally endless unpaid internships do lead to paid jobs. But more often than not they don’t – they just fuel this corrosive practice further.
At Graduate Fog we know that ultimately only one group gains from unpaid internships – and that’s the companies which continue to run them.
*Would you pay to work abroad for free?
What do you think of companies like Standout Internships and CRCC Asia? Are they really trying to help graduates get paid jobs in the UK? Or are they simply the latest in a long line of companies who are making money out of your unpaid labour?
Living abroad is one of the best things for anyone to experience. I had an Erasmus year in Amsterdam and mostly everything was arranged for me by my university before I left, which took a lot of stress out of the equation. My Erasmus year probably cost me around £5000 in living costs and I didn’t get any additional qualification out of it. It was quite indulgent really but it was also the best year ever!
I’d love to go and work in China but I don’t think these schemes are good value for money. I’d probably go and teach English there for 5 months or so as at least then I’d be paid. I think an experience of living in China offers enough standout experience as it is, and you don’t really need to do a placement somewhere spectacular.
Anyway one internship isn’t enough to get a job anymore. The graduate Sophie from the article already had a lot of quality experience, a good degree, and well-connected parents which would have helped her.
I’m off to New York in March for a year, and I’m paying £8,000 for the experience. The only reason I’m doing it is because
1) I get free accommodation New York,
2) I get paid during the internship
3) I get a post graduate certificate in business.
4) It is with a major bank
5) Ive done my homework
Even with this experience in New York in finance, I’m still doubtful that the internship solely will get me a job when I return.
People who do these internships should do so with their eyes open
In regards to unfairness I don’t think these internships abroad effect those who cant afford to do them, as I really don’t think the internship is that much of a CV booster as its being sold as.
I spent 3 months teaching English in Argentina before beginning my degree (in modern languages, including Spanish). It was a very useful and enriching experience with regard to improving my foreign language skills, acquiring interesting personal and professional experiences and the opportunity to live and work abroad and to travel was wonderful.
However I paid (Travellers Worldwide) a great deal of money for the experience (over £2,000 excluding the £700 I paid for flights and my living costs while in Buenos Aires.) In return they arranged for me to volunteer in several different schools and institutions for a total of about 20 hours a week, funded my accommodation (a bed in a dorm in a hostel with a shared bathroom which the hostel owner informed me he would have charged under £100 a month for) and gave me around £40 per month which was supposed to go towards transport (to get to and from the several different schools I was working in) and my living costs. So basically they kept the majority of the money I paid them as profit. I was actually even under the impression that one of the schools I worked at (a private bi-lingual school in a very upmarket neighbourhood) may have been paying the organisation for my time… So a bit dubious overall then. In reality I could have organised the entire thing myself for a fraction of the price and really wish I had done so in a way. I enjoyed the experience but thinking back on it, I feel that it was certainly more than a little bit exploitative and the organisation acted more as a profit-making business (which, at the end of the day, is what they are) than anything else. I would urge people to instead take a year abroad as part of their degree course and either volunteer (real volunteering!) or attempt to secure paid work/training in order to gain valuable experience in their industry/field and to have the experience of living abroad. Or to opt for the Erasmus scheme, to study abroad. Both options would be more cost effective and would ultimately be likely to be as rewarding as the “gap year” or “internship” opportunities being sold by many organisations.
Just FYI, you can link without giving Google juice 🙂
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nofollow
http://codex.wordpress.org/Nofollow
@Christopher @lawgraduate @joddle
Honestly I’m absolutely gobsmacked by the amount of money people are prepared to spend nowadays to get that crucial ‘extra’ on their CV so they can stand out from the crowd / give you the ‘edge’ on the competition. The list of things you are expected to shell out for is getting longer and longer every day!
First it was an expensive postgraduate qualification and months of unpaid work in your ‘dream’ industry – now it’s paying to work abroad! Maybe I’m a total dinosaur but this is starting to sound absolutely insane. Especially when your starting salary at the end of all this is likely to be somewhere around £18,000, which is what people were paying graduates 15 years ago! : (
@Noel
Thanks for the tip – I’ll investigate : )
No, I think I disagree with the starting salary you state there Tanya. Look around for average entry level salaries, and for that first 12 months experience you will find employers will take advantage and offer minumim wage or close to it.
School and college leavers are on the same as you are with a degree – so what was the point of three years study?
I’d be happy with 18k!
@Neo
I agree. Particularly outside of London, it’s frightening how little some employers are paying for “graduate” roles. They are benefitting from the educational background of their employee but are unwilling to pay for it!
Hi,
I have received an offer for a 12 month work placement in china. It’s going to cost me around £5,000 for the whole year including flights, visas and accomodation but this does not include food and generally going out. however, the company i will be working for have offered me pay of 5000RMB per month which is about £500 and i am told that i wont even end up spending half of this because china has very low living costs. the last thing is that the company has an office in newcastle so i may be offered a full time job in the UK after the placement. Would anyone like to comment or recommend whether i should do the placement.
thanks in advance
@ Hassan Ali
there are some things to look at like:
1. is the salary that you are going to be paid cover what you have spent getting the placement.
2. are you guaranteed a interview with the Newcastle office after the placement.
3 can you save some of your salary so that when you come back after the placement you have some money so you can look for jobs
4 look at the pros and cons of doing this placement
Looking at the pros and cons is the best thing to do
for example for me i want to go to Auz i have looked at the pros and cons, pro Auz employers are more likely to give graduates a chance who dont match the entire job description where UK employers want some to match the job description, con miss my family
look at it like that and you will get to descision
Hi,
the offer i have received is a 12 month placement which i have to pay £5000 for but this includes flight, visa, insurance and accomodation for the whole year. also, i have been told that i can pay the £5000 in installments so that it is easier to pay. In addition to this i will receive 5000 RMB per month which is around £500 and my friend who is currently in china says that this is more than enough to cover additional expenses. he says that if im careful i may only spend two thirds of that.
I came to China through: http://www.internasia.com. A lot cheaper than CRCC mentioned in the article…
What degrees did you all do? On my course we have employer visits each week from people who did the course and the wealthiest have been people who started their own companies. Granted this is in the STEM area. Going to china for a year just to get some experience to work in an office seems crazy. Why not spend that time teaching? More rewarding…
I’m actually applying for a standout internship. I don’t see the problem, as I am pay for it out of money I earn myself from a part time job while I’m at uni. It would be different if I had a year to do something, then I get your point, but endless retail experience might not help people with their career goals in the future. For example, mine might be to do with journalism or editing, and you wouldn’t believe the amount of volunteering roles I have applied for in the country that I have been turned down for because of little experience in that field. Then there is the whole teaching thing, sure you could do that for significantly cheaper but not everyone want to go down that road. There are even festival volunteer roles that you have to pay full price of the ticket to be able to volunteer. I’m not well off by any means and will be working overtime to pay for these things, so I dont think it fair that you find only the well off would go for this. I’m almost sure that most people like me who are not well off, are willing to work for the money for this type of thing to secure the job that they want to do for the rest of their lives. Especially as they are getting nowhere with it due to lack of experience.
Sounds mainly like an angry rant, but not much actual analysis.
So on the one hand side participants are exploited by these companies on the other hand side they get an unfair advantage over others through it?
Make up your mind.
If I get an advantage over others from a service, then I am not being exploited, but am getting something for my money.
If I am exploited, then I am not getting an unfair advantage over others, but am a victim of a scheme I pay for but that gives me no unfair advantage.
So one or the other? Or maybe it is simply people paying for something that is useful for them and they cannot get in the same quality elsewhere? Like any business?
At least one of the companies mentioned in the discussion actually offer free scholarships which they do as part of their CSR policy and the government also offers scholarships serviced – by the best companies in this field chosen on a competitive tender basis, so highly regulated – for those who haven’t their own money to pay for the service. Also, many grads are offered jobs in the firms who take them on as interns for the month or so they are there on the internship – I hardly think working for a month or two for no pay, is exploitation – it is valuable work experience and no-one forces a student to go for this. Many want to, as it is an enriching experience. Please do not tar all companies with the same brush either. I had a great experience on my internship, and was treated with respect all round. Not exploitation. Sad that facts aren’t checked eg on scholarships for students who need support and on quality programmes – internship programmes are fully rounded, with professionally organised cultural briefings, language lessons, social and business events, charity volunteering opportunities and local sightseeing trips, all included in the fee, not a rip-off. Sure, as with every walk of life, some companies are in it only for money and others do have values and ethics and offer quality products – they can care about student employability and graduate training, side by side with running a business…
There are a plethora of graduates who cannot find work relating to their degree. Media studies are a prime example. There are, however, thousands of jobs and huge shortages in engineering, nursing and NHS related work, HGV drivers and so on. I undertook a degree and master’s degree but would have probably earned more taking a HGV. People need to start being more practical as there just aren’t the graduate jobs available. A huge debt can still leave a person stacking shelves.
There are a plethora of graduates who cannot find work relating to their degree. Media studies are a prime example. There are, however, thousands of jobs and huge shortages in engineering, nursing and NHS related work, HGV drivers and so on. I undertook a degree and master’s degree but would have probably earned more taking a HGV. People need to start being more practical as there just aren’t the graduate jobs available. A huge debt can still leave a person stacking shelves.There are a plethora of graduates who cannot find work relating to their degree. Media studies are a prime example. There are, however, thousands of jobs and huge shortages in engineering, nursing and NHS related work, HGV drivers and so on. I undertook a degree and master’s degree but would have probably earned more taking a HGV. People need to start being more practical as there just aren’t the graduate jobs available. A huge debt can still leave a person stacking shelves.
Yes there are job shortages in nursing, medicine and science.
So what?
There may be job shortages but no one is employing.