BBC Learnings · Section 9

Internships would you work for free

Before you got your first job, Rob, did you do any work experience?

Level: B2 · 112 sentences

Transcript

  1. Before you got your first job, Rob,
  2. did you do any work experience?
  3. I think I may have done a day
  4. or two at some companies, just shadowing,
  5. watching how they did things, but nothing much more than that.
  6. Some companies offer students or recent graduates what they call internships.
  7. These are extended periods of work experience
  8. where someone can be working full-time without an actual contract
  9. and in many cases without even being paid.
  10. Ah yes, this is a bit of a problem, isn't it?
  11. Some companies are being accused of using students
  12. and graduates as cheap or free labour.
  13. Yes, although the counter-argument is that internships are valuable experience for people
  14. who need it before they can get a real job.
  15. Well, we'll look at this topic a little
  16. more after this week's quiz question.
  17. On the topic of business and companies,
  18. which is the oldest stock exchange in the world?
  19. Is it... a Bombay, b New York, or c Amsterdam?
  20. What do you think, Rob? Tricky,
  21. because I was expecting London on that list.
  22. I'm going to take a guess then at Amsterdam.
  23. OK, well I will reveal the answer later in the programme.
  24. James Turner is the chief executive of an education charity.
  25. Recently he took part in a discussion on the BBC radio
  26. programme You and Yours on the topic of internships.
  27. What does he think is a big issue with unpaid internships?
  28. In many careers we're now seeing that it's almost
  29. an expectation that a young person
  30. does an internship before they stand a chance
  31. of getting that first full-time job in that profession.
  32. And the issue with that from a sort of social mobility point of view
  33. is that a substantial proportion of those internships are unpaid
  34. and that effectively rules out those who can't afford to work for free.
  35. So what is the problem with unpaid internships Rob?
  36. Well, if you can't afford to work for free,
  37. it makes it very difficult to do an internship,
  38. particularly in expensive cities like London.
  39. This excludes or rules out a lot of people
  40. from the benefits of an internship.
  41. This is bad for social mobility,
  42. which is the ability of people
  43. to move to higher, better paid levels in society.
  44. So the poorer you are, the more difficult
  45. it can be to get a good job,
  46. even if you have the ability.
  47. Could you afford to work for free here in London, Sam?
  48. No, I can barely afford to live in London
  49. as it is, so the idea
  50. of doing an unpaid internship would not appeal to me at all.
  51. Turner goes on to talk about other issues
  52. that are also problematic in internship programmes.
  53. Too often internships are open to those with established connections
  54. in the professions and again that rules out those young people
  55. who don't have the well-connected families
  56. or friends who can open those doors for them.
  57. So what are these other issues?
  58. In many cases, he says that internship opportunities are only
  59. available to those with established connections to the company or industry.
  60. This means they have some pre-existing link with the company,
  61. for example, through family or friends' families.
  62. Yes, it's a lot easier if your family is well connected,
  63. if it has a lot of contacts
  64. and links to a particular company
  65. or important people in that company.
  66. These links make it easier to open doors to the opportunity.
  67. To open doors is an expression
  68. that means to get access to.
  69. So it seems that to be able to do an unpaid internship
  70. you need to have a fair bit of money
  71. and to get an internship in the first place
  72. you may need to have a previous link to the company
  73. through a family connection, for example.
  74. So the system would seem to be difficult
  75. for poorer families and make it more difficult
  76. for students without those resources or connections
  77. to get on the job ladder.
  78. Here's James Turner again.
  79. Too often internships are open to those with established connections
  80. in the professions and again that rules out those young people
  81. who don't have the well-connected families
  82. or friends who can open those doors for them.
  83. Right, time now to answer this week's question.
  84. Which is the oldest stock exchange in the world?
  85. Is it A Bombay, B New York or C Amsterdam?
  86. Rob, what did you say?
  87. I went for Amsterdam. Well done! That's correct.
  88. Congratulations to everyone who got that right.
  89. And extra bonus points if you know the date.
  90. Rob? Hmm, haven't a clue. 1750?
  91. Actually, it's a lot earlier. 1602!
  92. Wow, that's much earlier than I thought!
  93. Right, let's have a look again at today's vocabulary.
  94. We've been talking about internships, which are periods
  95. of work at companies as a way for students
  96. or new graduates to get experience in a particular field.
  97. If they are unpaid, it can make social mobility very difficult.
  98. This is the movement from a lower social level
  99. to a higher one, and it's difficult as poorer
  100. candidates can't afford to work for free.
  101. Yes, the cost rules them out.
  102. It excludes them from the opportunity.
  103. What helps is if you have established connections with a company.
  104. This refers to previous or pre-existing links with a company.
  105. And also if your family is well connected.
  106. If it has good connections, for example if your father plays golf
  107. with the CEO, it can open doors.
  108. Or in other words, it can make it
  109. easier to get into the company.
  110. So, Sam, are you well connected?
  111. No, only to my smartphone.
  112. Ah, same here.