The first time Zheng Wei heard about "paid internships" was during a phone call.
On the other end of the phone was a teacher from a study abroad planning agency: "To apply for a master's degree in the top 100 QS universities (universities ranked 1 to 100 in the world in the 'World University Rankings' released by the British QS Company - reporter's note), you must have at least one internship in a large factory and several internships in small businesses."
Zheng Wei is a senior majoring in finance at a university in Beijing and plans to study abroad after graduating from the undergraduate program. The application period was approaching, but her resume was blank.
The other party then introduced the company's "paid internship" business: 30,000 yuan in exchange for an internship experience in a large factory. Zheng Wei had never thought about "paying a job" before, but this time she was tempted and paid the money after discussing with her parents. One month later, she became an "industry research intern."
When interviewed by reporters, she had been interning for nearly three weeks. The originally agreed-upon position in the securities company was temporarily said to be "full" and was replaced by the current position; the teaching teacher went on a business trip two days after joining the job. She rarely saw her colleagues, and her daily work was to "make documents into PPTs."
It is now the "Golden Nine and Silver Ten" recruitment season. Under the dual pressure of employment pressure and resume anxiety, some college students have begun to try "paid internships": students pay fees, and institutions or companies provide internship positions, internship certificates, project experience, and even "internal referral" opportunities.
When internship experience becomes a service that can be purchased, why are students willing to pay? Can an internship bought with money really buy abilities and opportunities? Faced with claims such as "famous companies" and "internal recommendations", how can college students avoid falling into pitfalls?
The internship dilemma in the cracks
Zheng Wei tried to find an internship on her own. She submitted her resume many times during her sophomore year and the first semester of her junior year, but “it basically came to nothing.” She found that companies hope that fresh graduates have project experience and internship experience, but for undergraduates without internship experience, getting their first internship is the most difficult.
Zhang Yanyan, a senior majoring in communications engineering at a university in Yunnan, also had a similar experience. He did not plan to take the postgraduate entrance examination and started applying for resumes overseas since his junior year. However, competition in the corresponding industry was fierce and most of them received no response. Later, a company notified him to go for an internship, but asked him to pay a training fee of about 4,000 yuan first, and promised to arrange an internship after the training and match the quota recommended by a large factory.
He told his family about this, and his parents had no objection. “In their view, spending money to buy internship experience is equivalent to buying knowledge and experience.”
But after joining the company, Zhang Yanyan learned from interns in the same period that the number of internal referrals was pitiful, and several groups of people might only grab one or two; some people paid the training fee and were fired after the training on the grounds that "the training effect is not satisfactory." This was far from what he expected.
Wang Yu, a sophomore majoring in computer science at a university in Shandong, saw someone sharing their experience of getting a certificate for a paid internship on a social platform, and sent a private message to the person with the mentality of giving it a try. She spent 10,000 yuan to join a software company, and her position was "software development internship assistant." The company promises to issue a stamped internship certificate, provide corporate mentors, participate in real business projects, and provide letters of recommendation. Although it does not "guarantee an offer", it can be recommended through resumes.
As the internship came to an end, Wang Yu said that part of the promise had been fulfilled and the internship certificate was issued to her; however, the "deep participation project" did not reach the depth of the promotion. The work was mostly data collection and code testing assistance, "there is a certain gap with the description before payment."
"Paid internships are essentially a gray industry that requires a high degree of vigilance." Wang Yu believes that some institutions seize students' curiosity for knowledge, amplify publicity, sell anxiety, and exaggerate the value of projects, internal referrals, and the effects of recommendation letters. Many promises don't match up.
Why are they willing to "pay money" for internships?
Gao Yan, associate professor at the Student Career Development and Employment Guidance Center of Beijing Normal University Zhuhai Campus, has long been concerned about youth employment and career education. In her view, the demand behind paid internships cannot simply be attributed to "students wanting to take shortcuts", but a structural problem.
"There are few good jobs, but there are more and more students who want to enter leading companies." Gao Yan said that some students from non-key universities are even blocked during the resume screening stage, making it difficult to obtain internship opportunities in large companies.
When students see that people around them already have experience in "big factories" and "famous companies", but their resumes are still blank, their anxiety will be further amplified. Some institutions have seen room for maneuver: some companies outsource the screening work to headhunters or talent agencies. Students pay and have the opportunity to "bypass the threshold and sit in front of the interviewer."
Gao Yan observed that paid internships first spread from study abroad institutions. Applying for foreign schools requires volunteers and internship experience, but since the domestic education system does not have this set of requirements, study abroad institutions will "arrange" it. Since experience in study abroad applications is difficult to verify, the goal of institutions may become “optimizing resumes” rather than truly improving students’ employability.
The deeper driving force is experience anxiety.
"The biggest anxiety among students is that they have nothing on their resumes when they graduate." Gao Yan said that paid internships can provide "pain relief and comfort." Even if you know you have no ability to improve, you will feel more at ease if you can write one line on your resume.
Zheng Wei understands this deeply. The countdown to study abroad applications, graduation thesis, and English exams was running out, and she couldn't afford to wait.
This anxiety sometimes comes from the family. Gao Yan mentioned that “more parents than students came to consult for civil service examinations and internships.” Some parents are like "lawnmower parents" who bulldoze all obstacles in front of their children and interfere excessively in their growth. "In fact, they do not trust their abilities."
Social platforms can also easily create the illusion that “everyone has gone to a big factory.” Students often see people who have successfully entered big factories and got good offers. The people around them seem to have beautiful internships, competitions and projects. But in fact, these people are actually a minority.
Can an internship bought with money really buy ability?
For those who just want a piece of proof, a paid internship may be "useful." But for job seekers who really want to establish themselves based on ability, the answer is not optimistic.
Zheng Wei commented that her internship was “low cost performance”. She had an internship, but she did not really build up an understanding of the industry; she completed a lot of PPTs, but it was difficult to explain what new skills she had mastered, and repetitive and mechanical work could not add luster to her resume. Zhang Yanyan discovered that the so-called internal promotion of large factories is not a "pass" that can be directly redeemed for work.
Nowadays, some college students who have purchased "sky-high price internships" have discovered that the experience they "bought" with a lot of money is not very valuable. Some intermediaries verbally promise positions in well-known companies, project experience that can be included in resumes, letters of recommendation from senior executives and other benefits. However, students only see clearly after joining the company: most of them just do odd jobs and simply organize information, and have no contact with the core business at all. What's more, students paid high service fees, and ended up losing their jobs, making it difficult to protect their rights.
Many well-known companies have publicly issued statements that they have never cooperated with any third-party intermediary agencies in recruitment. The official recruitment and job search process of the company is free of charge, and no fees such as registration fees, referral fees, internship placement fees, etc. will be charged to job seekers. The Ministry of Education has also issued reminders during the graduation season to remind college students to be wary of job traps such as "paid internal referrals", "intern nesting dolls" and "false recruitment".
The agency where Jia Qi works has been recommending and matching college students with internships for eight or nine years. They met with many employers and college students, and saw a contradiction in reality: companies always say they can't recruit suitable interns, but college students don't know where to find truly valuable and reliable internship opportunities. “Our original idea was to bridge the information gap between companies and students so that students can be matched with real and effective internship opportunities.”
However, Jia Qi has also seen many chaos in the industry, such as false referrals, sky-high agency fees, fake internships, fake positions, paid internship certificates, serious discrepancies between job descriptions and actual work, and collection of deposits and guarantees. She told reporters that there are three main types of job sources for formal institutions: corporate campus recruitment, direct HR cooperation, and compliant internal referral of intern needs for internal employee project teams. In the process of matching students with internships, institutions need to conduct multiple levels of verification. Repeat with the company to confirm the internship work content, salary, internship length, whether to provide internship certificates, whether to provide regular opportunities, etc. Synchronize all position information with students before taking up the job. At the same time, check the employment situation of the students, whether they have received the offer issued by the company's official email, and whether the actual work content is consistent with the position label. After the internship, students will be guided through the normal process to obtain the internship certificate with the manpower seal and the recommendation letter signed by the project team leader.
"We will refuse to post jobs with names and only buy jobs that prove that no work is required, and prevent the inflow of fake jobs." Jia Qi suggested that college students also need to keep their eyes open and plan in advance, and not rush to seek medical treatment near graduation. "Especially for overseas students, some institutions say that without a local internship, there is no way to find a good full-time job in China. Don't be fooled by this and spend a large amount of money only to get a water-filled internship."
Zhao Shuangshuang, a young lawyer at Sichuan Zhigao Law Firm, is also concerned about this type of disputes: students pay the money and start the "internship", only to find out later that the position has been filled with water, the certificate has been filled with water, and even the "internship company" itself is an empty shell.
Some institutions may provide real services such as career planning, resume modification, and interview coaching; others take advantage of students' information gaps to package so-called "internship opportunities" into commodities; and even worse, they use fictitious positions and fictitious cooperative companies to defraud money in the name of "internships at famous companies", "internal referrals", and "guaranteed admissions".
Zhao Shuangshuang gave the "Four Checks and Avoidance Methods": check the license, check the business scope and administrative penalty records through the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, check the human resources service license and registration list on the official website of the local Human Resources and Social Security Bureau; check reputation, check the referee Use platforms such as Document Network to search for the name of the organization and litigation records of its affiliated companies; when checking fees, only go to public accounts and ask for invoices, and be wary if the payee is an individual; when checking promises, you must be vigilant if there are "guaranteed offers", "guaranteed famous enterprises" and "guaranteed approval".
Zhao Shuangshuang reminded that a contract between a student and an agent, which is called a service contract but is actually an opportunity to buy or sell a job, is invalid from the beginning and violates public order and good customs, and the fees can be refunded. Organizations that make up fake jobs and fake offers may be suspected of fraud.
She suggested giving priority to free and safe official channels such as school employment guidance centers, school-enterprise cooperation projects, company official website recruitment, and national college student employment service platforms. “Tens of thousands of dollars to buy a ‘background’ would be better spent on learning a hard skill and doing a real project where the details can be explained.”
If you have stepped into a trap, Zhao Shuangshuang said that you should stop the loss as soon as possible and fix the evidence: save chat records, transfer vouchers, contracts, complain to 12333 or 12315, and file a lawsuit or report the case if necessary.
"Don't stigmatize being cheated." Gao Yan said that for young people who have already suffered losses due to paid internships, don't be afraid or feel ashamed. "When you need help, ask the teacher for help. Don't affect your graduation and credit. Try to recover as much money as you can."
Bet "certainty" on yourself
Behind the chaos of paid internships is the harvest of employment anxiety by business. How can young people get out of this dilemma?
Zhang Jin, a nationally certified career planner, has been engaged in corporate human resources work for more than 30 years. He has served more than 10 different types of companies and has also contacted many job-seeking college students.
When Zhang Jin judges students, he does not just look at the school and experience on the resume, but also looks at knowledge, skills and talents. "I ask students, why are you looking for this internship? What is your purpose? What have you learned?" She said that a few questions can often determine whether an internship experience has actually happened, and whether the skills the students have mastered match the job requirements.
This is what Gao Yan wants to remind students: Even if they get through the test temporarily, they will not be able to pass the next test. "If you enter a big company under a pretense and your employment skills are not strong enough, it will gradually be exposed. Often, when you sit down for an interview in front of HR who has countless contacts, you will be exposed."
Zhang Jin does not completely deny the logic of paid internships. For students who need to standardize writing of internship experience and improve personal portraits, formal institutions can indeed provide professional technical support. But she also emphasized that there are very few truly responsible institutions, and the more important thing is to "return to the ability itself."
In Zhang Jin’s view, there is a disconnect between school education and the employment needs of enterprises. “Schools often do not teach the skills that enterprises want.” Therefore, both companies and schools should make adjustments: company employees can directly contact relevant institutions, and schools should also proactively contact corresponding companies and positions to build bridges for graduates and achieve two-way choices.
"On the way from school to the workplace, what students really need to build is personal judgment, information retrieval and continuous learning abilities." Zhang Jin suggested that even if the internship is basic work, you can take the initiative to do things well, look for opportunities to learn from experienced colleagues, and understand what abilities the company really needs.
Zhang Jin gave a formula to anxious young people: Anxiety = Expectation - Ability. "Anxiety is a driving force for progress to a certain extent; but when expectations are too high and abilities cannot keep up, people will become anxious. To relieve anxiety, just lower your expectations and don't set your sights too high; if you have enough time, focus on improving abilities."
Gao Yan suggested not to stare at the "glitzy" place as soon as you get there. She suggested that students start from small businesses and alumni companies. “Start in a small place first, and step up a little bit. If you really learn something and grow your strength, you will still have the opportunity to go to a big factory.”
Zheng Wei told reporters that she was not sure whether her choice was wrong, but "it was definitely not the optimal solution." For junior students in the same situation, she suggested that you should submit your resume and look for opportunities first, and keep your eyes open as a last resort.
"Accepting yourself as an ordinary person does not mean giving up hard work, but refusing to be coerced by false involutions and refusing to hand over your anxiety to an intermediary with a clearly marked price. The road can be slower and the steps can be smaller, but every step should be true," Gao Yan said.
(At the request of the interviewee, Zheng Wei, Zhang Yanyan, Wang Yu, and Jia Qi are pseudonyms in the article)
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Yu Bingyue intern Qiu Beicen
