The Internships Which Don’t Meet The Usual Definition of Internship.

One thing that has surprised me recently is how some ‘jobs’ have been advertised as ‘internships’ when in fact they are very different to what you would expect for an internship.  Extracts of two such examples are below:

Graphic Design Internship - Envytations, Manchester

We are seeking an experienced Graphic Designer either full or part time on an unpaid basis - to own the creation and maintenance of both our marketing assets and content created to support the product and other marketing goals.

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Must have access to Adobe Creative Cloud or similar Graphic Design package & be an expert in this field. 

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We are looking for a candidate with a positive Go Do attitude, ability to work independently, passion for design and a strong work ethic. 

Web Design Intern - Gratuu Ltd, Manchester

We are looking for a candidate with a positive Go Do attitude, ability to work independently, passion for design and strong work ethic. The candidate must have experience and access to Adobe Suite and good knowledge of web/ mobile design, good communication skills and attention to detail.

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Job Type: Unpaid internship

In both these cases the adverts have been placed by commercial businesses who aren’t looking for a trainee to come in and sit alongside someone experienced in order to gain experience, they are looking for someone experienced who is able to complete tasks independently which are essential to their respective businesses.  Additional, they are looking for people who already have the relevant software for undertaking the work, when the required software isn’t free or software which is included with any new computer.  It’s not dis-similar to advertising for a delivery driver intern and then not providing a vehicle to use while making deliveries!

In the title of this blog and opening paragraph I’ve chosen my wording carefully because according to the information provided on www.gov.uk the term internship has no legal status, so it cannot be claimed that these positions aren’t internships.  Conversely, a trainee manager role paying £25,000 per annum could also be called an internship.  However, questions have to be asked as to why a commercial business would need to rely on an experienced person working on a voluntary basis.  Is it because the business owner doesn’t want to take the financial risks which come up with owning a business?  Or is it because there’s a shortage of work in some areas meaning that experienced people are willing to offer their skills on a voluntary basis for a commercial business?  The government keeps telling us unemployment is going down but I don’t think they're telling us the full story when they make that claim.

I should also stress that the above two adverts (which are no longer live) are the not the only examples of unpaid internship roles where the business is advertising that it is looking for experienced people, just examples I happened to come across. Also in this post I am no way trying to imply that either Envytations or Gratuu have done anything that isn’t legal.