Unpaid Internships (UK) and abuse of candidates

scotty_irish

My girlfriend went for an interview in London for an unpaid internship last month, after having completed a very brief telephone interview. This is for a position for which she matched the requirements perfectly. From the telephone interview she was given a very strong impression that she would be selected. She was then invited to travel to London (from Glasgow) for interview in early December. Today she finally received a response from them. (negative as expected after such a long time).

Several points:
1. I find the whole concept of unpaid internships complete bullsh*t, especially in a place like London with a very high cost of living (this is neither here nor there, just blowing off some steam) (rich kids only need apply)
2. However, leaving aside my thoughts on unpaid internships, when hiring for such a position, I believe that the company should make allowances in the interview process for this - such as not dragging someone 400 miles (travel not paid for of course) - unless very serious about hiring them and after that, at least have the decency to not take a month to get back to a candidate. From the rejection email, I get the impression that a lot of people were interviewed.

I'm currently helping my girlfriend draft a response email, basically a very polite f**k you. I'm normally quite good at this but my usual verbal articulation has failed my tonight in my anger. What are people's thoughts on actually sending such an email? I understand the whole don't burn your bridges concept. However, in this case, I feel one is appropriate. Any ideas for what to include?

Here's what i have so far:

Dear X,

Thank you for your response.

After having read your email, I find myself extremely aggrieved.

You should realise that, although the selected candidate will gain valuable experience and potential contacts, this position is UNPAID. Therefore, you should not be asking candidates to travel unless you are very serious about hiring them. Furthermore, having gone to the effort and expense of attending the interview, I hear nothing from you for over a month.

I really hope that your treatment of me during the recruitment process is not indicative of your treatment of your general employees.

Furthermore, I believe that as a matter of course, you should offer each unsuccessful candidate feedback from their interview so as not to make the entire experience a complete waste of time.

Kind Regards,

X

Don't worry, nothing will be sent until she has thought it through more and cooled down a lot. Thanks for reading my semi-rant and please post some suggestions for the reply (and whether you think one should be sent).

RATM

Putting the issue of unpaid internships to one side here I think you're not acting rationally here in sending this letter.

A candidates location isn't really of concern to the employer. I know she traveled the best part of 1000+ miles roundtrip but if the employer and the job is based in London and she lives in Glasgow but wants to work in London then she'll have to do interviews in London. The distance doesn't come into play here- if she wants the position then she must be willing to travel to the interview, just like all other candidates.

I'm not seeing any benefit whatsoever to sending that letter, except to maybe make her feel better and blow off some steam ? If she sends that letter the only thing she'll achieve is to vindicate the employers decision not to employ her. As London is a massive city of over 7 million it is unlikely there'll be any ramifications in future. But if the same stunt was pulled in Dublin or anywhere in Ireland for that matter then it wouldn't be long before her name got around as someone to avoid.

Best thing to do is scratch it down to experience and move on. And be wary that in seeking a job it is important to be able to accept rejection in a humble and professional manner. Turn the negative into a positive and get her to ask why she didn't get the job. Use the feedback to improve and perform better next time out so she does get offered the job.

allibastor

i would agree, its not really the companies fault of where the job is based, your girlfriend knew it was in london, so there was a high chance she would have to go there at some stage, and most companies dont pay travel for interviews unless you are in a highly sought after sector.

again, instead of buring bridges with the company, ask for some feedback on how better to present yourself in future if any jobs like this comes up. state how much she wants this type of role and that any informtation which may lead to help would be appriciated. also add that if any suitable roles come up in the futurue she would like to be considered for it.

never burn bridges, it may well come back to bite you. a friend of mine once punched out his boss at a welding firm in limerick, 3 years later he moved to austrailia and guess who he met there as a junior director of the company. needless to say he didnt get very far in that company and had to move on after 6 months

Dan133269

allibastor wrote: »

never burn bridges, it may well come back to bite you. a friend of mine once punched out his boss at a welding firm in limerick, 3 years later he moved to austrailia and guess who he met there as a junior director of the company. needless to say he didnt get very far in that company and had to move on after 6 months

Do you mean knocked him out with a punch? There must be more to that story. Was it the boss's fault?

OP, as regards sending a letter, I would definitely ask for feedback, and maybe make a reference to changing to their policy to provide some travel reimbursements in the future.

I went for a job interview in Dublin, had to fly over as I'm living in Brussels, and after it they never even bothered to respond to me. I sent them an e-mail absolutely slating them for not getting back to me, there is no excuse whatsoever. The reason I knew they had made their decisions was because this was a graduate hiring thing, people I knew received successful and unsuccessful letters on the same date, I gave it a week after that and having heard nothing, could only assume that I was unsuccessful.

I never used foul language or insults in the e-mail but made it clear what I thought of them and their policy of treating interviewees like numbers. They got back to me and apologised, including a partner who was one of my interviewers. They said it was a mistake on their mailing list and assured me that it wasn't their policy not to respond to interviewees. Do I regret sending the e-mail? Not one bit.

allibastor

Dan133269 wrote: »

Do you mean knocked him out with a punch? There must be more to that story. Was it the boss's fault?

.

not knocked him out, but hurt him none the less. there was just a lot of working tension between them and it came to a head one day. it happens a lot more in construction related fields then it does in an office environment.

i would agree with your asking about the travel items, but the OP had more of a rant going on with his letter, that will get your no where. and to be fair, it is down to the applicant to know where the job is and to organise travel, its not the best method for low-paid or un-paid work, but unfortunately we live in an employers market at the moment.

Cian92

Dan133269 wrote: »

Do you mean knocked him out with a punch? There must be more to that story. Was it the boss's fault?

Don't be so surprised I work in a difficult, boring, physically demanding environment, tensions get high etc I have often had to pull two men off each other.

Send the email definitley. Try and say something about how said company is trying to promote how they deal expertly with clients and want to promote a positive external image. However, they are giving off a very neative view of the company while screwing over the individual who took their time out to apply for an unpaid internship.

Generally the companies which offer unpaid internships are the type that pride themselves in their company image and best practice in dealing with clients.