Internship scheme offers 5,000 work placements to people on the dole

jonnny68

Solair wrote: »

This will absolutely be abused, there is no 'if' about it.

I know having worked in the media sector in the UK, that the norm was to employ fully qualified people who had years of experience as interns and get them to work for free for as long as possible.

Abuse of internships is rife across those kinds of industries and it would be a terrible shame to see it creeping in across other sectors through Government schemes.

If this is going to work it will have to be policed VERY heavily with fines in the region of €25,000 per intern for any company abusing it e.g. laying off staff and replacing them with interns.

Indeed this is absolutely true i have seen this myself, also on a similar note one of my old employers got some young lad to come in for a "trial" for a week without pay, i personally thought the young lad done alright he was keen and willing to learn but after a week they should let him go and no pay:( disgusting behaviour i thought and i can only imagine how bad the young lad must have felt (not to mention him building up a mistrust of companies after something like this)

stupidusername

this will be abused as much as the other wpps. what have the government done to create jobs? is this the only thing??

careca11

Oranage2 wrote: »

Honest to God how lazy are some people -

I work in a job that has no connection to my degree and get paid little under €400 a week before prsi and tax.

I'd be tempted to leave my job and do one of these internships relitive to my degree, i may take a little pay drop but i'd be entitled to rent allownce and medical card.

you have to be unemployed for 3months or more before you can avail of the scheme

gonedrinking

Oranage2 wrote: »

The goverment is too good to the un-employed, when the goverment does something people still want to sit dont want to do it, though im sure sitting on you ass on the dole for a year will make you more employable!!!!

Completely agree. I really can't believe all the negative comments appearing here. There's a few "computer says no" types at my work, they're a complete waste of space. I'm all for constructive criticism but I just don't get people who are blinkered, cynical and closed minded 24/7. The benefits of this scheme will heavily outweigh any potential negative effects.

Biggins

gonedrinking wrote: »

...The benefits of this scheme will heavily outweigh any potential negative effects.

You have a point too but...
The saying "The end don't justify the means" came into my mind reading that last part.

stupidusername

Oranage2 wrote: »

Honest to God how lazy are some people -

who are you referring to?

I'd be tempted to leave my job and do one of these internships relitive to my degree, i may take a little pay drop but i'd be entitled to rent allownce and medical card.

well go leave your job then, and wait three months, work the same 40 hour week with the same expenses for €238. if it's so attractive.

jonnny68

Out of curiosity i called the number on the website, the guy who answered seemed disinterested and couldn't wait to end the call i asked a few questions like "what are the chances of this being abused by employers" answer "nothing i can do about it" :rolleyes: i also asked " what about any extra money for people who have to pay for travel,etc" answer " no nothing else"

Once again another fail on behalf of the Government, time will show them to be as bad as the last shower of chancers and crooks:rolleyes:

stupidusername

jonnny68 wrote: »

Out of curiosity i called the number on the website, the guy who answered seemed disinterested and couldn't wait to end the call i asked a few questions like "what are the chances of this being abused by employers" answer "nothing i can do without it" :rolleyes: i also asked " what about any extra money for people who have to pay for travel,etc" answer " no nothing else"

Once again another fail on behalf of the Government, time will show them to be as bad as the last shower of chancers and crooks:rolleyes:

but sure aren't you loaded being on the dole as it is!!! :eek::rolleyes:

TheZohanS

MagicMarker wrote: »

Stupid idea tbh.

It will be abused by smaller business who let staff go, change the T&C's of the position ever so slightly and then hire new people on this scheme.

Now when people go on to FAS.ie half of the jobs will be those ridiculous ''WPP'' and the other half will be this crap.

Eventually there'll be no normal jobs left! :rolleyes:

Yes it will be abused by some companies, but they will be in the minority.

I think it's a great idea. How many timed have we heard of job seekers applying for jobs only to be told: no, they have no experience. Despite what you may think these interns won't, for the most part, be making the company money from the start, far from it. It costs companies money to train an employee, certainly in placements with Quinn, Smurfit, mercury and Aer Lingus you won't know your trade for a few months. I'd imagine if you're worth your salt these companies would take you on or certainly give you a call when they're hiring next. Some companies actually charge for the training given to these interns, they should be considered practical education.

If you're clever you could build up quite a good skillset through these internships and if you did decide to emigrate you'd have more job options when abroad.

Of course these schemes wont appeal to people that have a sense of entitlement and think they they're owed a living.

jonnny68

stupidusername wrote: »

but sure aren't you loading being on the dole as it is!!! :eek::rolleyes:

sorry you've lost me here?

BASHIR

I'd do one, it'd be great if it got me out of the house and some relevant experience. Companies are struggling, people have nothing to do, its a win win in my view.

Oranage2

stupidusername wrote: »

who are you referring to?.

Jonny68! "sure its only an extra 50quid, and I'm sure the employer will understand that i was on the dole for the last six months cause we're in a recession dont you know and the guy that took one of these interships and has 6 months industry experience wont be anymore employable than me"

stupidusername wrote: »

well go leave your job then, and wait three months, work the same 40 hour week with the same expenses for €238. if it's so attractive.

I wouldnt leave my job but if i hadnt got a job I'd snap one of these placements up in a second! I'm just out of college with no industry experience why would i think a company would hire me on a good wage when there are so many people with experience applying for the job!

And i know these companies might hire some people with experience on one of these internships BUT i dont care about this - i just care about myself and getting myself ahead!

jonnny68

This is a win win alright, for employers that is, the chances of anyone being kept on after 9 months are very little, anyone who thinks this wont be abused needs their head examined, im sure a small amount of employers might not abuse it but in general i think it will be big style,sad but true.

spank_inferno

I hope this works out well.

But I'm not so naieve to expect that it will.

BASHIR

jonnny68 wrote: »

This is a win win alright, for employers that is, the chances of anyone being kept on after 9 months are very little, anyone who thinks this wont be abused needs their head examined, im sure a small amount of employers might not abuse it but in general i think it will be big style,sad but true.

But your free to look for jobs while your doing the internship. Free to attend interviews if you get one, and give them one weeks notice if you actually get a job. imo what the hell else would I be doing, but gaining experience something to put on my cv something to talk to my interviewers about. Otherwise im sitting at home.

Dillinger3000

A lot of people obviously think that getting a degree entitles you to a job. It doesn't, and they will find it tough to get a job without experience. Yes, it's not ideal working for the price of the dole or the dole + €50, but you may get a job in the end if you have the right attitude.

blahfckingblah

this proposal is rediculous. whatever chance there was of getting a paid job on finishing 3rd level studies in this already harsh environment they have absolutely vanished now. companies will use the scheme to get cheap labour (the company pay the 50 euro??? correct me if im wrong). this is not going to benefit our working class people in the slightest the only people benefiting from this is the companies, especially big corperations and the government who can now mince their live regester figures and use it as an example of the tremendous work they are doing whilst patting themselves on the back. this government are already so far out of touch with their constituents.

Dyr

It's alright lads, Joan Burton said no is going to be exploited, we can all breathe easy. :rolleyes:

pickarooney

If you were taken on under this scheme would you be able to just show up whenever you like, pick and choose what tasks to perform and dress however you wish? If the company is not paying the workers it would be a bit much to expect model employee behaviour in return.

jonnny68

blahfckingblah wrote: »

this proposal is rediculous. whatever chance there was of getting a paid job on finishing 3rd level studies in this already harsh environment they have absolutely vanished now. companies will use the scheme to get cheap labour (the company pay the 50 euro??? correct me if im wrong). this is not going to benefit our working class people in the slightest the only people benefiting from this is the companies, especially big corperations and the government who can now mince their live regester figures and use it as an example of the tremendous work they are doing whilst patting themselves on the back. this government are already so far out of touch with their constituents.

this is the best post on the subject yet.

Gillington

I cant wait to see the stats of how many people get kept on after the 6/9 months or else get jobs out of their experience

Misty Chaos

Regardless of whatever or not that will be abused ( it will be ) I'd still be open to at least give something like this a try. Granted, I'll have to wait until September ( only finished college at the start of June ) but its worth a shot if nothing else has come up for me between now and then.

Mark200

There will definitely be a few employers who abuse this but I think its still a great initiative. Not only will it be great for peoples CVs but I think it'll be great for their morale too to actually have the opportunity to work. I know if I was unemployed I'd be jumping at this opportunity.

stupidusername

Gillington wrote: »

I cant wait to see the stats of how many people get kept on after the 6/9 months or else get jobs out of their experience

i'm doing the wpp at the moment. so is a girl that i'm working with. she's been there since september and has been told now that there's no paid job for her.

I'll have my 6 months done in mid august, and can't really see me being offered a paid job either. i mean what i'm doing is a bit more important, but doesn't change how cheap my boss is.

Lord TSC

Reminds me of a Simpsons quote actually. The idea works "In theory. In theory, communism works. In theory."

It's a great idea but the truth is it will be abused to hell. I'm not going to comment too much on what will already be said, but there's two things I worry about...

1. Will people be given extra for travel allowance? If I have to travel up and down to Dublin five days a week, I think that "extra 50 euro" will disappear pretty quickly, and thats before having to take on the added expenses such as food, etc.

2. People say "OH, you're getting experience to put on your CV", but what exactly does that help with? Are there going to be loads of new jobs in 6-9 months following the internship that are being kept secret? What jobs exactly is this extra experience really going to be helpful for? In 9 months, when the 5,000 interns are spit back out of the system, is there going to be 5,000 new jobs available? Or are those 5,000 people not simple going to be added back into the dole queue, going back to look for another internship along with others who did not get it before. Also, is 5,000 really going to make a real dent into the unemployment figures? I know that the teaching sector alone just got about 1,500 new fully-trained people injected into it's system.

3. Finally, how tailored are these internships really going to be for the field of work people are qualified in? I was actually offered an internship a few months back. As a qualified teacher, I was offered an internship in an office as a secretary. I was told (by FAS) it would offer me experience. I asked how it was going to help me get a job as a teacher or how experience fetching coffee was going to help me get work in a school. They said, "Yeah, you're right" and never got back to me. I can't see the point of people being offered internships if there's no jobs available afterwards to be honest, and if the internships are not actually available in the fields people have trained in :S

mikom

jonnny68 wrote: »

Out of curiosity i called the number on the website, the guy who answered seemed disinterested and couldn't wait to end the call i asked a few questions like "what are the chances of this being abused by employers" answer "nothing i can do about it" :rolleyes: i also asked " what about any extra money for people who have to pay for travel,etc" answer " no nothing else"

Probably an intern........

Remember at the end of blazing saddles when they built the fake town to distract the bad guys from the real town.
That's what this scheme is.

Spunge

Isn't this kind of the same as the fas WPP ?

Which i heard was pretty abused, having people doing things like pumping petrol

strokemyclover

gonedrinking wrote: »

If its impossible to get a job already what could be your objection with this? Businesses can't create new jobs because they can't afford it. People out of uni are rotting away on the dole. At the moment no ones winning.

Sorry, I should have made it clearer in my original post, this is going to make it harder for those already with the experience to gain properly paid work. Why hire someone looking for a modest wage when you can hire two recent graduates to do a similar amount of work.

Scandalous if you ask me. I do appreciate that graduates need to gain the experience but not at the expense of other people's (and their own future) wage. This should be moved away from the public domain ASAP and the onus placed on the companies themselves i.e. create a set amount of graduate roles for every certain number of jobs created. It's the only way we can be certain it won't be abused!

blahfckingblah

it must be a front for their pro emigration initiative, it seems to running very well actually.

Gulliver

If you are unemployed, but not in receipt of any money due to means test I wonder will you just get the €50?

The Intern FAQ leads me to believe this is all a person in this situation would receive.