UPDATE: This blog got published in Indian Pharmaceutical Association Student Forum's Official Students Magazine- PANACHE LIVE
Link: https://issuu.com/ipasf/docs/panache_live_issue_2_ (page 15-17)
original version posted in 2020.
During this period of lockdown, I decided that I will not let it become a knockdown for me and wanted to use it to my advantage. So, I started applying for internships online. There were many challenges I faced (and I am sure other student interns like me must have faced those too) which I have shared in this blog.
If you get shortlisted for an internship for the first time, wouldn't you be on cloud nine? But when the companies show their true colours, it's heartbreaking. No doubt some provide a great learning experience and are a pleasure to work with as well.
Now you must be wondering, isn't she just 18? Is she, a second-year undergraduate college student, actually going to get an "internship"?
Well, YES! There are many student internships available which are remote. Not only for college students, but there are some internships for high school students as well.
In this blog, I'm sharing with you some of the experiences I had with a few fraudulent/predatory companies/organizations (I haven't mentioned any names).
My intention is not to discourage anyone from applying to remote internships or internships in general. My only intention is to let students like me (who are looking for opportunities) know what to expect and what to be careful of.
Before you make any assumption about whether I had clearly read the descriptions or not, I would like to tell you that I remember clearly- having read every description several times before applying.
The following points summarize what I experienced.
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1. Stealing applicants' ideas for website content
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A startup company had put up an internship opportunity on one of the internship websites. According to the description, the applicants were promised a work from home internship (creative writing) for a month with a certain stipend amount, a certificate and letter of recommendation. They went through our CVs, and gave all of us (the "shortlisted" candidates) a "task". We sincerely wrote content for the so-called task and submitted it. We all were then rejected by the company (all of us) and that content was used by them to develop their website. Some of the applicants were networking and found out what had happened and warned others- the ones who were unaware about it.
My stand- if they rejected us (the candidates), they shouldn't have used our hard work and innovative ideas (or at least they could have given us credit). Since remuneration is usually not given for a single task, they could've at least given an appreciation certificate! All they did was waste the applicants' precious time.
This isn't a matter of our ego being hurt because we were rejected, we were annoyed because they used our work without credit or compensation.
2. Social media marketing
I had applied for an unpaid internship with a so-called "educational" organization. The description provided was- development of content for social media handles. All of us (applicants) had anticipated tasks where we'd have to write blogs, design banners, make posters, compose captions, etc. The only tasks we ever got were-
Task 1: Get X number of followers for the Instagram handle
Task 2: Get X number of likes and comments for a particular Instagram post
Task 3: Get X number of people to like the Facebook page
Task 4: Get X number of people to subscribe to the YouTube channel
Task 5: Get X number of people to view, like and comment on the recently uploaded YouTube video
Task 6: Get X number of followers on Twitter
Task 7: Get X number of retweets for the said tweet
Task 8: Get X number of likes and comments for the Facebook post
Task 9: Get X number of people to download the app and register (I had left the "internship" at this point)
Task 10: Collect people's personal information! (Thank God I did not ask anyone for this!)
Task 11: This task was probably to make people get a premium version of their app (a paid version).
A message was sent to us later saying if we fail to get the specified number of whatever they were asking for, we wouldn't get any certificate or letter of recommendation, despite all the begging that we had to do to get our friends to help us out. I'm not mentioning the name, but I know for a fact that their app was (is) useless.
Many of my friends had asked me "what are you doing, exactly?" Some of them had also asked me why I left the internship after a week. The reason was clear- all we were asked to do was beg for likes, comments, etc. What did we learn? Nothing. When we asked them about the difference in the description and the tasks given, they gave a rather stupid (I had to say this word) answer- "You learnt convincing skills!" I had no words to express my frustration. No we did not learn "communication" or "convincing skills", it was just "begging".
3. Stipend denial
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This incident happened with me when I'd applied for an editorial internship with an "emerging" scientific news website. After getting shortlisted on the basis of my CV and a telephonic interview, the work started. After a week we (the further shortlisted candidates) got a mail saying we would not be given any stipend since the company "could not afford it". I'm pretty sure they knew that they "could not afford giving stipends" before they started hiring interns! I had obviously NOT applied only for the stipend since I just wanted experience, but I could smell that something was fishy and did not want to take any more risks. Who would want to work with a company that does not follow any rules or policies?
4. Lying about work from home
After selecting candidates who'd applied for a remote internship, the company had put a clause in their agreement stating that going to their office was mandatory. So I reported this to the concerned website and they blacklisted the company. I'm mentioning this here so that those who are applying for the first time can be cautious and read every word/point of the agreement/contract clearly before accepting.
5. Lying about work hours
The description clearly said "part-time student internship" and the interns were expected to work for 2-3 hours a day for 2 weeks, but the managers called at any hour of the day and expected us to slog for more than 8 or 9 hours a day, which is the corporate standard for full-time. The worst part was- they even kept calling on weekends by giving excuses and rudely asking us "how can you expect royal treatment?”
6. Departments do not exist!
A company had put up an internship opportunity which said "Part-time student internship". When I read the description it was bizarre! The company was expecting the applicants to possess a "multidisciplinary" skillset. In their description, they'd said they're looking for a candidate who can develop their app (which required her/him to know several programming languages), design their website, write blogs, promote their company on social media (which required the candidate to know how to work with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Photoshop, Snapseed, etc), manage finance, get customers for them and manage clients by communicating with them. Basically, no departments. Only all-rounder candidates would be hired to do the work of all the departments.
There was another internship for which I'd applied along with a friend of mine. We had applied for blogging. But after recruitment, they said 'for 3 months, by default everyone will have to bring customers for us, after that we'll see...' The words "we will see" were an alarm for us. I think I don't need to explain what we did after that- obviously, we said goodbye to them.
7. Security deposit
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Some predatory companies/organisations ask you to pay security deposits ASAP or threaten to give your role to someone else. You never end up getting your money back because you aren't even given any receipts, or even the receipts are counterfeit. So that's another thing to be careful of. Thankfully, I did not fall prey to their trap as I'd already read the warning on the website which I'd used to apply for the role(s).
8. Fake testimonials
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I was doing some background info study about a particular company and when I read the testimonials on their website, those didn't seem real. So I tried to find out more by asking the LinkedIn community and some people warned me about the fake testimonials that the website has. I know this is done by most of the companies these days, so better to ask people who've actually worked there.
Some companies/organizations even pay people to write fake testimonials! Or sometimes they give people coupons/vouchers in return of a good review.
Whatever I have mentioned in this blog is just to create awareness. My objective is to help my juniors or peers when they come across this process.
A few points to ponder upon while applying for an internship-
Always read the description carefully and read it several times. I suggest read it out loud in front of someone you trust, so that if they notice something you'll be warned instantly.
Always do a background study of the company before applying.
Never trust the testimonials on their website. Try to get honest reviews from people you trust.
Always make sure you get all of your questions answered during the interview. It is supposed to work both ways- the hiring managers will ask you questions and you will also be given a chance to ask questions. Use this opportunity wisely and clear all of your doubts.
Always ask for a confirmation letter from the company so that you have proof of recruitment.
Never fall prey to big names as anyone can design a counterfeit website or page and print counterfeit receipts.
Always keep scanned copies of appointment letter, screenshots of any conversations about stipend negotiation, etc.
Don't lose hope if you get rejected and please don't take any step that can harm your life.
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To conclude I would like to say that we are students; we are desperate for opportunities, but we are not fools. Sometimes we end up in trouble because of our lack of experience, but we are the youth- we have a lot to learn and are full of potential. Companies mock us for expecting too much, but in reality, the companies expect too much from us. X years of experience; 12-hour work shifts; slogging without any stipend; etc- all of this while still being a full-time student!
To all of you who are still struggling to find good internships- don't give up. Don’t stop applying because you had one bad experience or maybe because you had a hundred bad experiences. Don’t let anything knock you down, not even this lockdown.
Have faith- you never know when that one awesome opportunity will knock on your door!
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