Paying the price for work experience

The website's Chinese counterpart, Fenzhi, keeps an eye on the vagaries of intern payment rates in China. The average monthly intern payment it has monitored nationwide was about 2,189 yuan at the beginning of July. Accenture Xi'an, for example, pays its graphic-design interns 120 yuan a day.

Yang Benli, a junior at Fudan University, is currently working as an intern at the website news.163. Compared with many of his peers, he is relatively well remunerated.

"I am paid 1,500 yuan a month, and I can save on commuting fees if I take the school bus. But if I miss it, I have to pay about 10 yuan a day to take the metro," said the 22-year-old journalism major.

Yang is fortunate enough to assume some hands-on tasks. His work mainly revolves around writing news stories, conducting interviews and making cold calls. Although he finds aspects of the work interesting, Yang will be relieved when it ends.

"If my opinions clash with those of my boss. I speak out. But on the whole, I find the job quite rewarding. However, what I'm most looking forward to is the end of my internship and enrolling for driving classes with the money I've earned," he said.

His ambivalence was echoed by Wendy Zhao, who "did not give too much thought to internships, because my original plan for the summer was to study and be well prepared for my thesis".

"I read the wanted ad on a job website and sent my resume to the company right away. But I was really taken by surprise when they called and told me I could have an internship. I'd waited a month without hearing from them and so I figured someone else had got the job. Then the company asked me to come in as soon as possible, so that I could enter a real office environment early on. So that's why I am here," she said.

"Meanwhile, I have signed a three-party agreement with the company and the university. Hopefully, the company will hire me officially when the internship ends, because I have been working extremely hard, doing overtime occasionally too. I have even worked during the weekend. It would be a great loss to the company if they just let me go," laughed Zhao.

"So far, my colleagues have been quite nice to me. But that's because I have been keeping a low profile. I'm used to hearing students complaining about internships. Some full-time staff often push work onto interns if they don't feel like doing it. Therefore, interns have to handle all kinds of chores assigned by different people, on top of their own work. I've experienced that sort of thing, but I always tell myself the more I do, the more I learn," she said.

"If I get other job opportunities, the things I have learned here will be of little help. If I have learned anything useful, it is to be fearless in the face of demanding, fast-paced or tough work because I've been working like crazy in my current position," she said.

"Internships are an excellent way of gaining practical and social experience and development in a short period of time. Indeed, I know of students who have completed at least five internships - that gave them a tremendous advantage when they finally started their careers," said Robert Parkinson, CEO and founder of RMG Business Consulting (Beijing).

"I don't believe people should be paid a salary for working a very short space of time. Really, the experience is a reward or payment in itself. Of course, not everyone is fortunate enough to have rich parents to support them, and we cannot expect students to lose money, so what is reasonable is daily reimbursement for travel and eating expenses," he said.

"People should see the first one to five years of their career (including internships) as an 'investment period' where they listen, learn, and carve a niche for themselves. The great financial and status rewards will come to those who work hard, learn, and do the best in those early years," he added.

Professional advice

Some companies and institutions seek professional advice on internship payment standards to avoid unnecessary headaches.

Jessica Xu, senior manager and consultant of Foreign Education and International Exchanges at the International Training Center of Shanghai Foreign Services Co said that companies she has advised often have stronger autonomy over internship payments. Her company's role is to offer advice on the details.

"The companies that cooperate with us offer their interns 30 to 50 yuan per day. For overseas interns, the payment is usually higher, sometimes double, but cases like that are quite rare. They only receive that level of pay if they have a type of professional knowledge that is difficult to find in the market," said Xu.

"Generally speaking, companies will offer subsidy or reimbursement for interns. For an internship lasting more than three months, we usually suggest that companies offer some payment. But a period shorter than that is usually unpaid," she said.

It is more usual for interns to be paid if their positions are directly related to the company's performance. Those expected to complete a project or advance a technique within a certain time frame will also be paid, said Xu.

"The labor laws in China have not explicitly ruled on payments for interns, neither have overseas labor laws. Internship payment is not compulsory. In other words, the right is in the company's hands," she added.

TUV's Wendy Zhao doesn't think it unreasonable that students expect to gain more than just experience from their period of work. She admitted that she has learned some valuable lessons, but they're possibly not the ones usually associated with internships.

"The certificate issued by TUV should be the most substantial result I have earned here. However, the lessons that will really stay with me are these: To always keep a low profile and be prepared to learn at any time. Only in this way can a newcomer maintain a good relationship with colleagues and progress on a career path."

Contact the writer at shijing@chinadaily.com.cn

Mubarak Abulimit contributed to this story.