Interns

[HK_Katherine]

What do people here think about interns?

We often have them. They usually do something vaguely useful although sometimes take some management time to sort out, so it tends to balance out.

We were approached by an organisation which offered us "free" interns - they said they organised the housing and visa's and everything so it was all sorted. Sounded good. But I just investigated more closely and discovered that the interns are actually PAYING for all this themselves. (not small sums of money).

On the other hand, we work directly with some universities and get send one or two of theirs as well. We pay them (not much, but enough to live in HK if you live cheaply, cover their flights etc).

I'm finding this situation bizarre. What are everyone else's views on this?

[shri]

a lot of American and UK students in those programs. Paying for international exposure on their CVs. A fair bit of their payment covers their local residential cost + the cost of the agencies to find them good employers which might make them eligible for Uni credits.

[MABinPengChau]

And then, of course, they have to pay for the uni credits, an expensive exercise for US universities.

[Shiojiri Hiro]

IMO choose the best candidates that you can irrespective of how they get there...if I recall you work in Finance right, so I think the KYC of the intermediary might be important too to avoid any conflict of interest issues as well as the perception that something fishy was going on!

[Elegiaque]

In my personal option (that is, a more emotionally motivated option), I feel this idea of paying to do an internship, or even not being paid for an internship is wrong. It just helps create a wedge between the haves and the have nots, and creates yet another a career and educational disadvantage for children from poorer backgrounds. At the same time, it gives those already with many advantages even more of an advantage. It's already a difficult time in which this generation in university carries a heavy financial burden in order to obtain an education.

And why it's personal for me: I didn't grow up with a family or in an environment that knew anything about internships and career development. After I worked my way to another country to obtain a master's degree, I started discovering that it was quite the norm that middle to upper class families paid for their children's housing so they could go and do internships for free in the summers. Those internships in that particular place were crucial for building experience and leading to future jobs through connections and experience. I, on the other hand, was fending for myself and needed to devote my time to work -- which was not directly related to my studies -- that could give me the maximum money so that I could pay my living expenses during term-time. It was a very clear disadvantage to me and it's had long-term consequences.

Unfortunately, in a society without much specialized vocational training, it may become harder to argue that certain industries should "invest" in young people -- by paying for them as interns -- to gain training that will later be valuable to the companies. At the same time, I've been disappointed to see how some people have personally gained and grown their business by having free labor through unpaid interns. But what those interns gain in terms of skills is all quite vague.

It's good if you can and do pay them something so they are not living off their savings and that the experience is not causing a financial burden to them. That gives you the freedom to select the best candidates regardless of their socio-economic backgrounds.

Again, in my opinion, this kind of competitiveness is yet another sign of the times that we're living in an over-populated, over-connected world.

PS -- would you like me as your intern? I'm unemployed.

[HK_Katherine]

It's a UK organisation so most of the interns seem to come from the UK. We only take people who appear to be worthwhile however we get them.

[drumbrake]

Any reason why local under grads are not hired as interns?

[Paxbritannia]

I would prefer sending invitations to universities to post on their uni message boards etc and/or a page on your company website inviting applications then having to line the pockets of some intermediary.

[jgl]

Any reason why local under grads are not hired as interns?

I would prefer sending invitations to universities to post on their uni message boards etc and/or a page on your company website inviting applications then having to line the pockets of some intermediary.

Have either of you ever tried these suggestions yourselves?

The amount of time wasted in sorting through half-assed, randomly written applications, sifting through largely clueless applicants to find people who might be okay but probably still need huge amounts of supervision is not very productive.

[HK_Katherine]

Any reason why local under grads are not hired as interns?

Few of them have the qualities we need. Plus we struggle to attract them. The ones we would want tend to go to banks. Local grads are hugely "brand conscious". They have no comprehension frankly of anyone other than the big brand consultancies. (even after we hire them, mostly they stay the same). UK and US grads are much more nuanced. They understand more that a small firm can be equal to a big firm in a niche area.

Plus what JGL said. Spot on. The ones we get usually are through relationships with certain universities where we know a professor well and he recommends certain individuals. So not a "general hiring" process. But those relationships are mainly in the US, UK and New Zealand because that's where the people we know are. And because hiring in HK is so hard, we are not building the relationships we would need (although we have tried!).