Internships: exploring new ways into work

For the 1.5 million under-35s currently unemployed, there has never been a better time to find work than in this recession. The problem is almost of all it seems to be unpaid. From the websites of private companies to the government's own job board, Graduate Talent Pool, adverts abound for unpaid work experience and internships.

From politics to media and fashion, the traditional "hot jobs" where demand outstrips the possible supply, young graduates and school-leavers are being targeted in an unprecedented way. Luxury brands such as Stella McCartney and Harrods beckon to today's bright young things offering a few weeks, sometimes even months, of experience. They suggest there is the opportunity to gain unprecedented access to the inside workings of their businesses. But when you dig a little deeper, what are these placements actually offering?

Scanning the posts on the Interns Anonymous website, some internships appear to be as dull and dreary as the worst clerical office job, except without the monthly salary. Other posts, though, offer a perfect introduction to the world of work and ultimately a job with the company you've grown to love working for. The biggest sticking point is always pay. It means that only a few can afford to get on the ladder to employment leaving a rump of poorer people behind.

Quintessentially – a "concierge" company co-founded by Tom Parker Bowles, which organises the lives of the rich and famous – has recently admitted to not paying their interns. The company argues that not only do a good proportion of their interns receive jobs with the company after their stint, but that "all tasks are given with a view to improve the intern's understanding of the industry, provide value for their CV, or develop their skills in their chosen sector." However, when asked exactly what was so rewarding, they describe the interns' tasks as "filing documents, assisting with mail and collecting marketing materials".

But internships can be done very differently. The publishing house Penguin says it pays all its interns – a policy that has come down directly from the CEO, Tom Weldon. It even pays expenses for those who do two weeks of shadowing. Paying the minimum wage – this rose to £6.08 an hour for over- 21s on 1 October – can not only mean all the difference to those seeking out work – it can also be a real boon to the company itself.

Penguin's HR executive Ellie Pike says that it would be easy to fill its four 10-week placements with the children of wealthy parents, but argues the company would ultimately suffer as a result.

"Publishing is meant to be a diverse industry," she says. "We publish a wide range of authors and we want a wide range of experience and background from our staff for the business to be successful. I don't think it would do us much good to just have a small minority of the population working here."

However, internships are a positive experience for some people. Gina Reay, 22, works in PR in Harrogate, and had two unpaid internships after she left university. The second led to a full-time job: "I used the experience as an opportunity to prove I was talented and committed and, thankfully, my hard work paid off!" says Reay. "It is an invaluable way to get noticed and, in my opinion, simply a prolonged interview process from an employer's perspective."

There is another push to make sure internships are the work trials they promise to be, rather than cheap ways of businesses getting free labour. After the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, made ending the culture of unpaid internships part of his social mobility strategy this spring, attention has also been focused on the fact that unpaid internships can be deemed a breach of national minimum-wage law.

Judges in recent employment cases have taken the side of interns over employers. Keri Hudson, 21, won more than £1,000 in back-pay after she worked unpaid for six weeks as an intern at the My Village entertainment reviews company. With help from the National Union of Journalists' "cashback for interns" campaign, Hudson scored a victory against the company in May after she claimed to have "practically run the company" alongside a multitude of other unpaid interns.

Becky Heath, from campaigning group Internocracy, has been consulting with companies to make work experience better and more productive for employers and young people alike. She is currently helping to advise the government on drawing up a gold standard on what work experience should be like – but getting the message through can be hard.

"We were at a roundtable event with Nick Clegg's office, the CBI and other employer organisations, and some of the things we were saying about young people's [internship] experiences were completely alien to them," she says.

In mid-September, the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills published new guidance on pay which Heath says includes lots of helpful examples on who "should and shouldn't get paid" under the law. However, Heath adds, "What we're not seeing is the government committing to crack down on intern employers who don't pay which is disappointing."

The other major route into employment is an apprenticeship. These government-backed schemes, mainly targeted at school-leavers rather than graduates, are far more structured than internships in the way they develop skills. And thanks to an increase in government funding and ministerial backing, they are enjoying a boom. There is currently enough money to train 360,000 apprentices. The downside is that for those aged 16-18, pay is just £2.60 an hour and there is no ultimate guarantee of a job. But given the rises in tuition fees and the cutting of the educational maintenance allowance, this earn-while-you-learn system, much unloved by past administrations, could become the route of choice for those finishing GCSEs.

There are no easy answers to getting young people back into work. But despite a reputation for being feckless and living off the bank of mum and dad, young people are achieving – the statistics on educational attainment suggest that today's youth are the best educated in British history. They are also the most computer literate and, if given the chance, perhaps the most innovative. What everyone agrees is that they deserve a fair break.

Source: Shiv Malik, Guardian.co.uk, Saturday 19th November 2011