Selling jobs won’t pay off

Some charity organizations and for-profit companies are auctioning off unpaid student internships, the Globe and Mail reported Feb. 3.

CharityFolks.com, for instance, offers lucrative internships in many industries, at companies such as Elle Magazine or the New York Stock Exchange—starting at $1,500. CharityFolks.com donates the winning bid to a charity the employer chooses.

It’s unclear how groups such as CharityFolks.com gain access to the internships and what type of screening process, if any, internship buyers undergo.

It’s counterintuitive that organizations purporting to help youth gain valuable experience teach them that taking an elitist route of buying their way into a job is appropriate.

Unpaid internships already have a limited pool of applicants as many students can’t afford to work for free during the months they should be working to pay for school.

Asking them not only to sacrifice earning potential but to pay an additional amount to work on top of that further limits their opportunities.

It also privileges affluent candidates who may not be qualified for the internship positions to get hired.

Auctioned or sold internships undermine the students who earn their internships through hard work and proven interest in the field.

If future employers know a certain company offers auctioned internships, they may doubt the quality of that company’s interns, even if some of them legitimately earned their positions.

The phenomenon speaks to a growing trend of employers asking students for professional work experience before they even finish their degrees, and it may be tempting to pay for résumé filler.

It undermines the employer, and the entire industry, by promoting among its workers wealth and connections over effort and integrity.

If bought, internships also become retail transactions that shift the balance of power heavily in favour of the student intern. If the intern doesn’t fulfill his or her responsibilities, it’s unclear how the employer could take punitive action against the intern, who would technically be a client of the employer.

Students who pay for internships will soon join the permanent workforce and become leaders in their fields.

It would be disappointing if they didn’t earn their place.

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