So it came as something of a shock when news reached Inspiring Towers that Twitter has a low take up among 18-24 year olds compared to other social networks. The common accusation levelled at the micro-blogging site is that it is a poor mans Facebook status update, a mere forum for sharing your daily tedium (I had eggs for breakfast!! ). Undoubtedly this sort of post does make up a share of Twitter traffic, but by no means does it define it.

Twitter is about engaging with anyone who interested you. Not just friends (as in Facebook), not just professional contacts (as in LinkedIn), but absolutely anybody you feel might have something worthwhile to say or to share. That might be a celebrity (Inspiring Interns follows @stephenfry), a journalist (@jan_murray, education journalist), or something completely random (@sesamestreet ?!).

Of course, Twitter isn’t just for pleasure. Increasingly recruiters are using it as their tool of choice for sourcing candidates. When job hunting Twitter is also a great way to find and get in touch with key decision makers you might not reach otherwise. You can find some good tips here.

The reach and influence that Twitter commands is clearly increasing. Restricting anything to the now ubiquitous 140 character limit is, to use Twitter parlance, trending – from the Bible to CVs. There are even surveys demonstrating that Twitter users are more likely to get a job, so well-practised are they in the art of being concise.

T-Mobile is even running a competition where business owners and entrepreneurs can send a straight-talking pitch on why their business is so great in (you guessed it) 140 characters. With a first prize of £2000 and two second prizes of £1000, being an expert Tweeter could prove to be a very valuable tool.

So with all these benefits, the one question remains for 18-24 year olds: why aren’t YOU on Twitter?

Background information

The UK currently has five million people on out-of-work benefits, with it recorded last year that three million working-age people had been receiving those benefits for two years or more. Government statistics further showed that 1.4million people have been on an out-of-work benefit for nine or more of the past ten years. The numbers mean that the UK has one of the highest rates of workless households in Europe; with 1.9m children living in homes where no-one has a job.

What exactly is being proposed?

To try and reduce these figures the government plan to make it compulsory for those unemployed on a long term basis (although ‘long-term’ has yet to be defined) to do community work, such as gardening, litter-picking or working with a charity.

Though the community work scheme is in the process of being officially outlined, initial submissions suggest that the placements will be more like ‘work experience’ than full-time jobs, lasting from two weeks to one month. The claimant would be expected to work a 30 hour week to allow them to “experience…the habits and routines of working life” again.

Any claimant who refused or failed to turn up to work on time could then have their £65 Jobseekers’ Allowance frozen for at least three months.

The ‘Work Activity scheme’ is said to be designed to help reduce welfare dependency, stop claimants from opting to take benefits rather than work, and flush out those claiming whilst doing undeclared jobs on the side.

Points against the proposal

- Unemployed people will be treated like prisoners – Community service is currently the most frequently used form of punishment for those convicted of a crime, with over 20,000 people given a community sentence last year. By making the unemployed also do community service, they are a) being “punished” in the same way as a convicted criminal, and b) reducing the impact of this prevalent court punishment for those that have caused a criminal offence.

- It will cause already vulnerable people into further despair – The Archbishop of Canterbury is against the proposals, saying he believes it could drive people “into a downward spiral of uncertainty, even despair.” He argued that people who are already genuinely struggling to find work and struggling to find a future do not need their unfortunate circumstances turned against them.

- It could cost lower sector workers their jobs – If the unemployed are made to do lower sector jobs such as litter picking and gardening, then the demand for people currently hired to perform such roles will lessen or even cease to exist. If those people then become unemployed, they could end up finding themselves doing the same role as before, but on a far smaller income provided by the benefit system.

-  It will force the wages of the average worker down – If people are made to work for free, then the whole employment system could end up restructuring.  Unemployed people, feeling that a certain job is more desirable than community work / that any money paid is better than nothing, may feel forced to accept jobs for less pay than other competitors. The result is that those competitors then also have to take less money to get another job, and so on and so on, eventually impacting the average workers wage bracket.

- Forcing people into work will mean they have less time to find better employment – People who are made to work 30-hour weeks will have less time to search and apply for job posts, meaning that they will be even more unlikely to acquire themselves a permanent position.

- It is slave labour – Forcing people to work for free is being deemed as unlawful and has been accused of being the modern day equivalent of ‘slave labour’.

Points for the proposal

- It will help to flush out ‘benefit scroungers’ – By making people do community service, it will teach those who have opted for a life on benefits rather than employment that they can no longer have their lifestyle funded by those that work. It will also put a stop to those claiming benefits whilst unlawfully working, as they will not be able to carry on their undeclared position whilst carrying out the compulsory work scheme.

- It is fairer to the taxpayer – The unemployed should give something back to those paying for their benefits by helping out in the community. There are many people who have never claimed jobseekers, and have always managed to maintain a working life even if they had to take less desirable positions. Why should they then fund people to ‘sit at home’ when these people could be filling many important roles within the community?

- Allows people to experience the workplace again – Danny Alexander, the Lib Dem Secretary to the Treasury, told the BBC’s Politics Show that the scheme was intended to “support and encourage”  people to get back into the habit of getting up and going out to work, rather than remaining isolated at home. He also said it would help people demonstrate their employability to prospective employers, after many employers said they look more favourably to people who had done some work recently than those who had been unemployed for a long time.

- It gives people more of a push to find something better employment wise – If people are forced to do jobs such as litter picking and gardening, then it may a) motivate them to up the job search to look for something better, or b) make them consider taking jobs which they may have previously felt were beneath them.

- Breaks the cycle of welfare dependency – With the current benefits system meaning that some claimants are no better off – and sometimes poorer – if they come off the dole to take jobs paying up to £15,000 a year, many have admitted they purposely didn’t take work offered to them. With the new system, those who refused to take work, take jobs that were offered to them or do voluntary work would have their handouts stopped, and so the cycle of welfare dependency at the taxpayer’s cost would come to an end.

- It will save money – 14% of Britain’s national income is currently spent on welfare. As the country struggles to pay back its £156 billion budget deficit, the benefits system is being seen as a significant area where costs can be reduced. Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary said, “The benefits system is a deeply ineffective and costly way of subsidising people’s lives. We obviously have a limited amount of money and our purpose is to improve the quality of life for the worst-off in society so they can play a part and hopefully pay tax one day themselves.’

What do you think? Let us know below!

Or – perhaps we should say – some people to be inspired by.

Here are some clever souls who – with a little help from their computers – decided to take their career prospects into their own hands and make it on their own. And they happened to do it rather well.  Heck, if they can do it, maybe you could to? (It would be nice to see even more English names on the list next time…)

Mark Zuckerberg

If by now you still don’t know who Mark Zuckerberg is then please refer to the picture for a pretty big hint. That’s right, he is the creator of the biggest social media website in the world: Facebook.

Anyone who has read Ben Mezrich’s book ‘The Accidental Billionaires’ about Zuckerberg’s rise to social media fame, or seen the book’s film adaptation ‘The Social Network’ will know that Zuckerberg created the social networking site whilst he was still studying at Harvard.

Now the site apparently rakes in £20 a second and has an estimated net worth of £500 million. All this without even graduating – Zuckberg ended up dropping out of his degree when Facebook took off – so just imagine what you could do with that added degree qualification in tow…

Blake Ross

When Blake Ross, a Miami teenager, was just 17-years-old he helped to create a free web browser that at the time was called Bill Gates’s worst nightmare.  The internet browser was a little one you may have heard of called Mozilla Firefox.

Now aged 22, the net worth of the Mozilla company (which Ross had been interning with when he and his friend David Hyatt began working on their small Firefox side project) is estimated to be around £75 million. Not bad for someone who hadn’t even left school yet.

Catherine Cook

When Catherine was 15 years old she founded MyYearbook.com with her brother David Cook then 16.

The site – an online version of the traditional American yearbook – now has over 16 million members and is the third biggest social networking site in the States behind MySpace and Facebook. Through the site Cook became a millionaire at 18, though not without a lot of hard work – she says she often clocks up to 60 hours a week around school hours (she’s now studying at University). Still, it shows that a bit of overtime can really pay off sometimes.

Kulveer and Harjeet Taggar

Oxford university graduates Kulveer and Harjeet Tagger became millionaires after selling their booming internet company, Auctomatic, less than a year after its launch.

The cousins, who started their online auction management company whilst they were still undergraduates, had many toils before their triumph – with the pair almost running out of money before their big break. “We survived on ramen noodles for lunch and dinner,” said Harjeet to the Times. “We didn’t even buy any furniture for the apartment that we were working out of, just desks. We had foam mattresses on the floor. We would work until we needed to sleep and then get up and start all over again.”

But the students persisted with their project and were rewarded in 2008 when Canadian web firm Current Media bought the site for an impressive £2.5 million, making it a job very well done.

Adam Hildreth

Adam Hildreth from Leeds, West Yorkshire, was ambitious from a young age. He was only 14 when he started his first business, Dubit Limited with seven other friends.

The company, a website that consulted on marketing to the teenage market, grew to become the most visited teen website in the UK. Hildreth then went on six years later to launch his second business, Crisp Thinking, an anti-grooming software which develops online child protection technology. Over the years he has been featured in the Guinness Book of Records, won numerous young achiever awards, and now directs companies with an estimated net worth of £25 million.

Juliette Brindak

Starting young – really young – often seems to be the key. Juliette Brindak, now 20-years-old and studying at Washington University, was just 10 when she came up with her multi-million dollar making idea. It came from a few drawings doodled on a trip home, a bit of encouragement from her graphic designer mum, and some enthusiasm from her peers to get her site, MissOandFriends.com up, running and making profit.

The successful website, aimed towards ‘tween’ girls, offers the chance for young girls to play, create, learn, exchange ideas, compare experiences and get published in an environment away from every day peer pressure. The company has an estimated net worth of $15 million, and a recent survey said it was beating the likes of Barbie, Hello Kitty and Girl Scouts.

After weeks of economic cut doom and gloom (you can see our report on how the Chancellor’s cuts will affect graduates here) the most current graduate forecast isn’t (surprise, surprise) looking any brighter.  The Telegraph today reported that the number of graduates going from degree to dole has hit 8.9%, equalling a total of 21,020 unemployed graduates.

The report, based on official figures obtained by the Higher Education Careers Service (Hecsu), found graduate unemployment has now reached a 17-year high, up from 7.9% in 2008, and 5.5 % the year before.

It further revealed that IT and media degree holders were the worst hit in terms of finding work, with those entering construction and engineering also struggling, particularly within architecture and building.

And in what seems a final twist of the ‘recession knife’, the public sector was shown to be one of the few areas still recruiting through the economic crisis – a small ray of light expected to be considerably darkened when the recent spending reviews prediction of  490,000 public sector job cuts starts to kick in.

But even as the extent of the challenges today’s graduates face when it comes to employment is further heightened, it’s important to retain a strong head. The job market is tough for everyone right now, and rejection shouldn’t be taken personally. Instead, time needs to be used productively, and graduates need to ensure that rather than giving up, they put that extra energy into snapping up that ideal job as soon as it becomes available (things are expected to improve for graduate prospects in the new year).

Check out Friends Provident’s ten great tips listed below to help graduates secure and keep a job (you can read the full article here) and keep checking our blog this week for more Inspiring Intern advice to help our graduates stop being an unemployment statistic and instead get started on their careers.

Friends Provident’s top ten tips to help graduates secure and keep that all important job are:

1. Career map – Map out all the possible ways that you could break into your chosen industry. There is always more than one way. For example if you can’t secure the role you want perhaps consider applying for an assistant / co-ordinator/ or PA role. Lots of companies promote internally and if you prove your ability you could eventually climb the career ladder and secure the role you want.
2. Be proactive – send CVs out to companies, get on their database – don’t wait for roles to be advertised. If you are on their database there’s every chance they will consider you before advertising a role publicly.
3. Networking – Use the people you know and the ones they know too. It’s amazing what you will find out / learn from people in all aspects of your life. Make good use of them- if you don’t ask, you don’t get! Remember digital delivers – Social media is not just for friends. Use your social network to look for work, and to share your experiences with other graduates.
4. Internships (foot in door) – Not only do they help you clarify your chosen career path, they also give you an invaluable opportunity to continue networking, the chance to build your communication and teamwork skills and help build confidence in the workplace.
5. Experience pays – Take every opportunity available to you, big or small. You learn from every experience, good or bad and never know what it could lead to. If you are struggling to get paid work consider working for free in the meantime in an area you want to get into. It is beneficial and will look good on your CV.
6. Business seminars – Go to business seminars and events – this helps you keep up to date with what is going on in your field and also helps with building your network.
7. Research – find out as much information about the business as possible before going for an interview so you have a better understanding of what the business is about and what it is looking to achieve. This will give you a better chance of responding well to questions.
8. Positive Mental Attitude – always work with integrity and respect for your colleagues, people are more likely to give you chances if they trust that you will do the right thing even if it is as simple as admitting if you have made a mistake.
9. An energetic approach – An energetic and enthused approach will help show how much you want a job. Say yes and be excited about the prospects of the job, even if it is not your dream role. Remember to have fun – you spend so much time at work, try to enjoy it – you will find if you are happy it rubs off on those around you and makes the office a more pleasant place for everyone.
10. Speak up – Your fresh ideas will be extremely valued by prospective employers so don’t be afraid to suggest new ways of working – even if you are just on work experience.

What is your opinion on graduate employment prospects? Got any extra tips you want to add? Let us know now!

• London is replete with markets: from Borough to the ‘Bello, these markets are a great place to reduce your food budget while avoiding the fluorescently lit homogeneity of the supermarkets.

• Share… Take a leaf out of the hippie’s book and share food bills, share clothes, bills, rooms, beds… The possibilities are endless.

• Going out? Avoid Zone 1. Vauxhall, Brixton, Camden and Shoreditch are a lot cheaper (and a lot more fun) than Oxford Street and Leicester Square.

• Metrobank’s magic money machine can unlock surprising sums from the voids of your sofa and the bottoms of your drawers: dirty old coppers go in; shiny new ‘proper’ money comes out, and the service is completely free: genius.

• Don’t be squeamish- “eat road-kill. Delicacies … include badger meat balls, roasted duck and wild squirrel stew. Jamie [Oliver] is a passionate advocate of the benefits of road-kill, he wants to change Britain’s eating habits and stop people consuming what he believes is bland rubbish.”

If it’s good enough for Jamie Oliver, it’s good enough for us. And it could save you a fortune.

• Return to the dark ages: electric lights are a luxury when perfectly good candles can be bought for pennies from Ikea. Your savings are doubled if you also hitchhike there.

• “If you’re poor, grow a beard” says Peep Show’s Mark Corrigan. It’ll keep your face warm and save precious money on razors.

So there you have it. If you don’t mind being labelled an eccentric, the scope for frugality is endless; limited only by your imagination (and your dignity!)

If you’ve been living in a distant galactic bubble for the last couple of years then you still might not have heard the news – we are currently suffering from a severe global economic downturn.

Yet it seems that as well as all the obvious effects occurring; national cuts, increased unemployment rate, higher numbers of university applicants etc, there have also been a few less expected outcomes, like the increase of older people seeking internships.

A survey conducted last month by CareerBuilder.com discovered that the struggling job market has sparked a surge of older people in the US applying for internships as a way to re-enter the employment sector.

The website, which surveyed more than 2,500 hiring managers across America, found that 23 percent of employers are receiving applications from people who either have more than 10 years of experience, or are aged 50 years and older.

“This economic downturn has really redefined what an internship is” said Mike Erwin, senior career advisor for CareerBuilder. “(People) need to make sure that they’re filling in the gaps while being unemployed, so they’re going ahead and taking these internships whether they’re paid or unpaid so they can get more experience, and hopefully land a full-time job.”

Traditionally, internships have been seen as a way for young people to get work experience on their CV. However, as the recession continues to kick in, and more and more graduates struggle to get the jobs that so many other more qualified individuals are also applying for, internships have taken on a much more important role. They are becoming that vital stepping stone between university and permanent employment.

However, the new statistics could mean that such graduates have an even greater fight on their hands as they find themselves competing against experienced people not only for pre-entry jobs – but also for internships.

Furthermore, the websites findings showed that many companies were just as keen to hire the older applicants as the more common younger ones;

“They know they’ve lost a lot of intellectual capital when they’ve had to lay people off,” Erwin explained. “So you’re going to find they’re going to bring back mature and experienced workers for internships as well as entry-level and college students who are going to bring a whole new feel to the job.”

Although this internship redefinition has only been reported in the States as yet, it leads to wonder how long it will take until economic desperation leads to a similar fad this side of the water.

And what would happen then? Will graduates need to do work experience to be able to get an internship to be able to get a job? Where will it end? Let us know your thoughts now!

So you want to be a police officer; enforce law, fight crime, and generally look out for the health and safety of your community. But however much your passion to work towards the good of the nation is, would you be prepared to do it for free – for up to 18 months?

Well you might have to, if new recruitment plans proposed by the Metropolitan Police go ahead.

Reports yesterday explained how the procedure – to scrap training schools and make recruits work as unpaid special constables before they join up – could save Scotland Yard millions of pounds, a necessity if the Home Office’s 25% policing cuts are to be met.

The change would mean that two thirds of recruits would have to commit to working 16 hours a month for 18 months as volunteer special constables before they would be considered for permanent full-time employment. The rest would come from the Met’s community support officers or have law and policing qualifications.

Martin Tiplady, the head of the Met’s human resources, described the move to the BBC as the “right way forward”.

He said: “This will deliver savings of between £12,000 and £20,000 per officer in salary costs during their training period. More importantly, our future police officer recruits will hit the ground running with full patrol status at the outset.

“This approach simply allows those considering a career as an officer to sample the job and acquire the right skills.”

With Police forces nationwide having to cut back on recruitment to solve financial problems, the move is hoped to offer an alternative way of getting people back into the forces, whilst also maintaining the high level of policing service which can only be sustained with sufficient manpower.

The scheme, however, has been heavily criticised, with opposition groups claiming that the plan was “fundamentally flawed”, and would lead to the recruitment of only middle-class people who have the time / funds to comply.

Jenny Jones of the Green Party, said. “Many people just won’t be able to afford to become a police officer. It would mean they would have to work part-time for the Met for the first 12 to 18 months. I think this will narrow the field of people who are able to join the force.”

Police unquestionably play an important, vital and often risky role throughout the country. To enforce an 18 month voluntary obligation will undoubtedly frustrate many of those eager to get in and get crime fighting. However, some perspective on the situation needs to be maintained.

Whether this plan gets officially passed or not, those eager crime fighters will still have some time to wait before they are on the streets chasing law breakers. The fact is the government wants the 43 police forces in England and Wales to find total savings of £545m by 2014, meaning that there simply isn’t the money available to recruit people right now. Just earlier this year the Met admitted that they had 2,000 successful applicants waiting to start their jobs – but didn’t have the funds to place them.

So assumedly these people have had to find other jobs to support themselves in the meantime? It may be disappointing to have to work at what was considered a ‘temporary’ role for a bit longer, but the time will fly by – especially with their policing goal to look forward to at the end. Plus, the scheme includes extra official training, and provides the opportunity to really experience what the job entails. This allows candidates to quickly realise if policing is for them, rather than waiting eighteen months and then having to figure out that career plan all over again.

Furthermore, the requirement is 16 hours of voluntary work a month. This equals less than four hours a week. To suggest that people cannot afford to give up four hours a week of their time seems a little far fetched. What’s more, most would undoubtedly really enjoy the change in their schedule – and if they didn’t? Then maybe policing isn’t the job for them after all.

What do you think? Is making new police recruits volunteer for up to 18 months a step too far? Let us know!

York University, a member of the 1994 Group

Volunteer
- noun
1. a person who voluntarily offers himself or herself for a service or undertaking               .
2. a person who performs a service willingly and without pay.

A significant feature of volunteering is the element of choice: to volunteer or not to volunteer –that is up to you.

Whether you are volunteering at an orphanage in Uganda, in the county’s animal shelter, or with your local MP, the assumption would be that you are volunteering because you choose to, you want to, and you appreciate the greater value of the unpaid experience.

Online Guardian article; The 1994 Group of universities advertises for graduate volunteers, however, questions whether it is a good idea for the 1994 Group of universities to “seek unpaid ‘volunteer’ graduates for admin jobs”.

Ben Lyons, co-director of Intern Aware, accuses the 1994 Group of failing graduates overall as “working for free is impossible for the majority of graduates”, whilst Heather Collier, director of the National Council for Work Experience, questions whether the successful graduates can really be called ‘volunteers’, arguing that “if an intern is required to attend work on particular days, and perform particular tasks, then they are a worker and not a volunteer, which means they should be paid.”

Lyons and Collier both make valid points. But then couldn’t their responses be applied for all volunteer opportunities?

It doesn’t matter if you are working in a charity shop, helping to conserve reefs in the Philippines, in the offices of an international NGO, or at your regional radio station; you will have had to organise your time and funds appropriately to partake in your chosen volunteer opportunity – even if that does require taking on a second job or saving up beforehand (and not just dipping into ‘The Bank of Mum and Dad’ as is so readily accused and yet so often not the case.)

It will also rarely work as a “drop in when you want – do whatever you want” – free for all. Usually there will be an organised structure to your working day with set shifts (like bedtime in the Uganda orphanage), and of course it will require helping out and working – why else would the organisation require volunteers?

A spokeswoman for the 1994 Group defended their volunteer scheme: “The 1994 Group believes in providing worthwhile opportunities for graduates, which enhances their learning of work place practices. The group does so in the form of internships, which are undertaken by the individual on a volunteer basis… and is fully compliant with Volunteering England’s code of practice.

“Our volunteers lend their time for a few days a week over a short period of time with all out-of-pocket expenses paid. The 1994 Group universities have a proud public record of supporting student volunteering and continues to support this.”

Interestingly (and notably an important element that has been evidently missed by Janet Murray, the author of the article), are the comments (volunteered…) from previous interns at the 1994 Group universities. Hayley01 believes she wouldn’t have achieved her current employment without the internship, and acknowledged the scheme as career building, “The 1994 Group offered internships focused on policy and communications – both competitive sectors where an internship is the recognised route to full employment,” she explained. “In this sense you could see the 1994 Group and its universities as supporting graduates at the beginning of their careers.”

And whilst MarioCreatura found his internship at the 1994 Group challenging, he maintains that the experiences and skills gained were valuable ‘real life’ lessons, and significantly, that it was “far from” slave labour; “As a graduate, much maligned by the state and society as a whole, it was refreshing and downright encouraging to be finally working in an organisation that truly valued your work,” he commented. “We weren’t there to make tea and coffee; we were there to learn and work as if we were professionals within the sector.”

JustinBJacobs further defended the scheme, “My time at the 1994 Group was an extremely productive and educational one and I was fortunate to work with great colleagues who were all dedicated to advancing the aims and profile of higher education in the UK. As my time and involvement in the Group’s projects gradually increased it felt good knowing that I was playing my own part in helping them communicate their members’ messages and achievements to a wider audience.”

Of course, the challenges of living on a considerably reduced income were broached within the intern’s candid comments, with often a second job or strict personal budgets having to be upheld.

Despite financial setbacks however, the overall indication was still that no-one regretted their internship decision. Instead, they appreciated the scheme as a unique graduate opportunity, and were enjoying the longer-term benefits it had created for them individually, like in JDuggie’s case: “As a direct result of the 3-month internship I was able to bypass entry-level positions and start on a higher salary,” he wrote.

JDuggie continued, “For those organisations, such as the 1994 Group, offering internships out of a genuine desire to create opportunities for young graduates where otherwise no role would exist at all, the alternative is to narrow opportunity by offering nothing and in turn increase competition for other internships.”

The notion behind the ‘volunteering scheme’ is that it is justified because it is usually seen as meaningful work, and again, importantly, has that element of choice. It should always be a mutually equitable arrangement with clear objectives to benefit both parties, that are clearly set out before commencement of the internship.

The central point is that ultimately how the experience is organised, and what you make of it is up to you. As Peetm nicely reiterated, “it’s up to the individual to assess whether or not they feel there’s a benefit to working as an intern. End of story.”

Vikram Sidhu has been interning as a finance assistant for the last 3 months

What was your job role?

I was a finance assistant.

What made you take the job?

It sounded interesting and I thought it would be a good introduction into the world of accounts. It was the area I was considering a career in and obviously it was a better way of getting experience rather than just reading about it.  I also thought that three months experience would give me a good idea about whether or not I wanted to pursue a future in that career.

And do you want to pursue a future in that career now?

Yes, I’m definitely interested in that line of work, it’s different, it’s interesting, it’s unique, you’re on the phone quite a lot, and you’re dealing with a lot of people. It’s nice to be part of a team, as well as getting the chance to work by yourself.

Had you applied for jobs before you took the internship route – or did you apply for an internship straight away?
I did apply for a few – I used reed.co.uk and received their daily email alerts for account assistants and loads of different general sorts of finance roles. But they all wanted x amount of months of experience with whatever packaging, and at that time I didn’t understand what half the words or programmes were.

And do you understand them now?
Mostly, yes. Obviously I am not so familiar with the packages that we don’t use ourselves, but I do now know what they are.

So would you say that this internship has given you a lot of confidence in finance?
Definitely.

What degree did you do?
Maths and finance

Did that not prepare you for a career in finance?
No, because what I did in the degree was more the practical side of mathematics, with a bit of finance. There wasn’t any accounting involved, it was just more about theory and numbers, analysis and that sort of thing. It was quite varied and pretty fun – the financial side anyway! But obviously there wasn’t anything that was going to prepare me for accounts payable – it just wasn’t part of my degree. Maybe if I had done an accounting degree it could have, but we will never know – unless I go and do another degree in accounting. Which would suck!

Did you think you would have to take an extra course in accountancy when you graduated – or did you think that an internship would be a better route?

I preferred to do an internship. I could have just done a course after graduation, but I think that has the same problem as a degree course, a lack of practical experience.

So now having almost completed your internship, do you think you have enough experience to get a full-time paid position?

I hope so. I definitely feel like I have a lot more experience now than before.  When I used to ring up agencies saying I was a graduate they would instantly ask have I got x amount of experience, to which I’d always have to reply no. Now, I get a much different response, which is great. Instead of straight out rejection, I now often get told that there are a few relevant jobs I can go for. I’ve had a few interviews already; in fact, I just came back from one today. So it’s definitely a lot more positive response than before.

So how did you feel the interview went today?

I’ll let you know if I get the job or not!

Did you feel you had more confidence talking about complex finance scenarios now that you’ve had experience dealing with them?

Yes, definitely. It makes a big difference. Beforehand, during previous interviews I had for some graduate finance schemes, they’d ask me to give an example of when I’d had to use / cope with a particular financial situation, and I had to relate it back to when I worked in a shop a few years back. Whereas today, I could say, ‘just this morning I was dealing with invoices chasing x amount of money’ and explain how exactly I dealt with that, how I ensured a good customer relationship was maintained etc. It just comes across as so much more relevant and is obviously a much better answer.

Have you ever regretted deciding to take an internship?

No, definitely not. I guess the only thing that was hard was the money – I had saved up beforehand which made it ok and was able to stay with my parents which certainly made it easier, though I can understand why people find it tough. I do think there needs to be some kind of governmental loan scheme to help those struggling.

Did you get all your expenses refunded ok?

Oh yes, I always got my travel refunded without any problems, and lunch was provided by the company, so I wasn’t spending anything as such as far as the internship went. It just meant I had to budget myself for everything else. I’d saved up about £400 beforehand, and I am just about coming to the end of that now. Though that’s not too bad considering it’s been three months!

So for anyone thinking of undertaking an internship – what advice would you give them?

I would definitely encourage anyone considering an internship to save some money first! I would also recommend from my own experience to go through a reputable company to ensure everything is above board. You hear a lot of negativity about internships in the papers nowadays, and about how they can exploit, so it is really important to make sure that your internship is valuable and genuine, and a good recruitment company can help with that. I know people who have gone on self-organised internships and then left after three days because they weren’t learning anything new and were instead left to teach other staff! The fact is it should be the other way round, the company should be teaching you and appreciate that in return, you are giving your time and hard-work to support and help build-up their company. I got my internship through Inspiring Interns and they were great, especially in maintaining constant contact and support throughout to make sure everything was going well. That’s the main thing with internships. As long as you are learning something relevant that you can put on your CV then you should stick with it. If not, then you should leave, just walk out. Internships shouldn’t be contracted and they should be on your terms. You should be able to leave if you are not getting what you want out of it, and reap the benefits if you are.

What kind of person would you recommend an internship to?

A graduate who has just come out of university, or even one who has been out a while but is still struggling to find employment.  I would also really recommend them to students still at university. One of my biggest regrets is not doing more work experience during my time at university – an internship over the summer holidays would have been perfect if I’d known about them before.  It’s easy to see how a Catch-22 scenario can occur. For example, I graduated last year, and applied for loads of grad schemes. But they all wanted graduates with experience, but you can’t get a job without experience…hence Catch-22!  It’s definitely best to make that preparation as early as possible to help make it easier later on to get a job.

So you would recommend internships to other people?

Definitely. As long as they are regulated and you go with a reputable company, I think internships are a great chance to work in an office environment and make that transition from a university environment into a proper, full-time job.

Is there anything else you’d like to add about your internship experience?

It’s so nice to have something useful and relevant on my CV that makes me stand out from all the other graduates – well worth the extra time I invested. I am now regularly getting responses to my job applications, and am able to talk confidently about my area of expertise. I am really pleased I decided to do an internship and certainly have no regrets, and let’s face it – doing an internship is so much better than just sitting at home waiting for something to come along!

Upon initially reading the strives and toils of the five female interns featured in recent Telegraph article, ‘It’s not easy being an intern’, it seemed I would have another battle on my hands defending the value of graduate internships.

Describing their intern experiences – ranging from placements at Vivienne Westwood to Whitechapel Gallery – Jessica Turner explained how she has to commute an hour each day to her internship in London, whilst Hannah Sanderson noted that most of her friends were buying houses and have cars.

Yet, essentially, by the end of the piece, a simpler message doggedly and unavoidably rang through about internships – that they were worth it.

“I never feel I missed out,” explained Hannah, who is currently interning with emergency relief charity Merlin, “because I‘m doing what I’ve always wanted to do.”

All the women’s experiences listed in the piece demonstrated one of the initial great advantages of an internship – they allow access to employment areas otherwise often strictly closed to new, inexperienced graduates.

But of course, there is far more to an internship than just a bridge into those no-go zones. They can help build professional confidence, teach all the important occupational knowhow, provide relevant contacts and provide the opportunity to acquire work experience sometimes imperative for achieving a permanent position in the employment field you really want to be in.

But no, I’m afraid they aren’t always easy.

What would be the point if they were?

Just think about all those “Devil Wears Prada” incidents you hear about – I shall set the scene:  a lucky someone has accomplished an internship – and it’s going to be ground-breaking. They just know this is going to be their step up, the break they need to really make it in the world.

Then they arrive and get handed the morning’s post to sort and the office’s tea and coffee order to prepare. Turns out, discovering who has sugar – one lump or two? And alphabetising letters are to be some of the more complicated tasks they will be allocated during their time with the company. What do they learn? Nothing. Why? Because it’s all just too easy.

Crucially - internships are a learning experience. They are meant to be challenging! They are meant to make you think and they are meant to teach you something new, not wear out and bore the skills you’ve already perfected – even if you do make a damn good cuppa.

Sure, there is a different side to ‘not being easy’. Some people may need to take a second job to top up the pennies, or have to adhere to a strict budget for a few months, retained from previously saved funds topped up with the paid expenses from the internship. A tough, tiring and limiting experience as I very well know – I’ve been there numerous times myself.

But then is this any different to those who have to do the same to get through their university degree or college course?  - Minus the fact that they don’t get the added bonus of refunded expenses? No, not really. And do those people get criticised? Of course not. They get commended for their hard work and commitment to doing whatever is necessary to achieve their aspirations. Hmm, I see a connection here…

An internship should be regarded as a similar extended curve of education. It is meant, and should be regarded by both sides of the intern agreement as a training opportunity; a chance to work alongside professionals and get the practical skills and wisdom that just can’t be taught in a classroom.  Hopefully such a vocational and colourful educational experience will strongly compensate being a bit short for a few months or having to work a few extra hours. And if it doesn’t? Then leave! No internship should ever obligate you to anything, or -importantly – go on for longer than a few months, i.e. a reasonable amount of time to learn all the tricks of the trade. If it’s not working for you, find something that does.

Despite all the intern horror stories that often take prominence in the media (c’mon – it’s the media…) there are a lot of really good, genuine internships out there, organised and structured for everyone to get the most out of them. Just take our Telegraph girls for example. Hannah is now eagerly anticipating getting involved with the relief programme for Pakistan through her internship.

And Jessica, who was working as a script development intern for Future Films, is thrilled to have just been offered a paid role of production and development assistant at the company. “I’m so pleased to be able to stay,” she said. “It’s been tough getting to this point, but you can’t expect too much because it’s a competitive industry. Because my degree was in film theory, I didn’t come away with the practical experience of being able to go on set and know what’s what. Maybe I would’ve progressed more quickly if I had.”

Like the girls in the Telegraph article, few of the graduates I speak to regret doing an internship.  Instead, they appreciate what they gained from the experience, and are enjoying the career boost it provided for them.

And sure, few of them will say it was easy. But who wants it to be easy?

To read Telegraph article ‘It’s not easy being an intern’ visit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/7956303/Its-not-easy-being-an-intern.html

Inspiring Interns is the UK’s leading internship consultancy. We provide meaningful three month internships, mentoring and graduate job opportunities in London and throughout the UK. The majority of our roles lead to paid, full-time employment. For the latest vacancies visit our website: http://www.inspiringinterns.com