I have some questions about JobBridge internships

Antifa161

I have been in receipt of JSA for just over 3 months now, meaning I am finally qualified for it (lol).

What is the next step? Do I simply apply for the positions on the FAS site as I would a normal job, attend and interview etc and then begin 'working' there? Do I have to notify Social Welfare or does the 'employer' take care of it all?

To those who have taken part in these schemes, what is the recruitment process like? Is it treated as seriously as a real job? Not that I'm suggesting you show up half-cut or anything but do you really have to be going to the interview in a suit and grovelling for the opportunity to offer them free labour?

Also, what is expected of you in the job itself? I've noticed nearly all of the positions on the FAS site state they are 40 hour weeks. Those seem like fairly mental hours for slave labour. It would be easier to swallow the fact you are being made to work for nothing in exchange for "invaluable experience" if you were only doing half days or weeks. On the other hand, the positions I am looking at are jobs I am capable of doing so I don't want to be sat around doing nothing or just making cups of tea etc.

It's something I am going to have to do, since these employers have managed to create a 'problem' by not offering jobs, which they can then benefit from by offering those same jobs as internships, I am just finding it hard to summon the motivation to do a 40 hour week and come out if with €6 more than somebody 3 months older than me doing absolutely nothing. And that's before factoring in the costs of travel and lunch.

Quiet Girl

You have to go on to the job bridge website and download the application form, fill it out for the position you are applying for and send it on to the organization with your cv. In the experience I had the interview was a lot less formal than other interviews and I was basically told there an then that I could start the position. But I suppose it depends on the organization.
You will be assigned a 'mentor' who will guide you through the role and assign tasks etc. Again it depends on the organization as to whether you will be kept busy or not. Im on of the lucky ones to have gotten a decent host organization.
As for lunch and travel, you will have to cover those costs yourself however you might get a decent organziation like myself, my travel expenses are covered every week by my employer, its not an obligation just totally up to the employer.
I know it seems like a bit of a joke but it will look good on your cv at the end of it, Im nearly at the end of my internship and in the last week iv done 3 job interviews!
Best of luck.

missmyler

Quiet Girl wrote: »

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As for lunch and travel, you will have to cover those costs yourself however you might get a decent organziation like myself, my travel expenses are covered every week by my employer, its not an obligation just totally up to the employer.

Interns get €50 a week allowance extra on top of their existing social welfare entitlement?

Quiet Girl

Yes thats right, its paid by the social welfare

ElizzyCox

Internships if managed correctly can be very successful for both the intern and the host organisation.

I have hired 3 interns in the Dublin area over the last two years, one intern got a job with a large accountancy firm 3 months after starting the internship. The other two were taken on after their internship was completed. This is not the case for all internships, and if you look for horror stories you will find them. Equally, if you look for success stories you will find them.

My recruitment process for interns was the same as a normal recruitment drive. First & second round interviews followed by a reference check. It was very important to us that the intern was interested in the role, and that there was a benefit to them in terms of what they would be learning. We have a small enough office, so we needed to make sure the new intern was part of the team, and would maintain their motivation over the nine months.

When deciding on applying for an internship, consider:

1) Will this internship add value to you and your c.v. / future career.
2) Cost, is it located somewhere easy to get to (bike / walk ), can you bring in your lunch.
3) Will they invest in any training courses over the nine months.
4) Will you be learning new skills and computer packages.

Before you start your internship you complete a checklist of all the activities that you will learn over the nine months with your mentor which should be reviewed on a monthly basis. This is where you need to be clear on what it is you want to learn and gain exposure in. Remember that even in paid employment people have to make the coffee or tea.

Finally, I have also recruited recently for a paid position. When shortlisting, any candidates who had completed or who were currently part-taking in an internship were viewed positively; indeed 60% of the final shortlist had candidates who had completed or were completing an internship.

Good luck with it all.

cloudatlas

ElizzyCox wrote: »

Internships if managed correctly can be very successful for both the intern and the host organisation.

I have hired 3 interns in the Dublin area over the last two years, one intern got a job with a large accountancy firm 3 months after starting the internship. The other two were taken on after their internship was completed. This is not the case for all internships, and if you look for horror stories you will find them. Equally, if you look for success stories you will find them.

My recruitment process for interns was the same as a normal recruitment drive. First & second round interviews followed by a reference check. It was very important to us that the intern was interested in the role, and that there was a benefit to them in terms of what they would be learning. We have a small enough office, so we needed to make sure the new intern was part of the team, and would maintain their motivation over the nine months.

When deciding on applying for an internship, consider:

1) Will this internship add value to you and your c.v. / future career.
2) Cost, is it located somewhere easy to get to (bike / walk ), can you bring in your lunch.
3) Will they invest in any training courses over the nine months.
4) Will you be learning new skills and computer packages.

Before you start your internship you complete a checklist of all the activities that you will learn over the nine months with your mentor which should be reviewed on a monthly basis. This is where you need to be clear on what it is you want to learn and gain exposure in. Remember that even in paid employment people have to make the coffee or tea.

Finally, I have also recruited recently for a paid position. When shortlisting, any candidates who had completed or who were currently part-taking in an internship were viewed positively; indeed 60% of the final shortlist had candidates who had completed or were completing an internship.

Good luck with it all.

Yes but were the 'interns' qualified already or not, if you're being perfectly honest how many of them needed the internship to learn new skills, or did they just need a job and therefore give your company a nice drop in expenditure. Pardon my cynicism but I think this is still an unfair way into the workplace if the people already have the skills.

dazdrog

jobsbridge has been extended from 9 months to 18 months of slave labor, thats not a internship, its nearly a apprenticeship!!

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/maximum-duration-for-jobbridge-internships-double-1.1532183

Scambridge has some good user input on the scam and how it works, also horror stories and the likes

http://www.scambridge.ie/

Gmol

Jobsbridge Worked well for for us , we have taken on 3 interns none of which had experience in the IT sector, 2 now have been employed by us on a full time basis and the third is halfway through the internship process, if the finance is there no doubt they will be kept on. It may not work for everyone but there have been some success stories

Mrs OBumble

cloudatlas wrote: »

Yes but were the 'interns' qualified already or not, if you're being perfectly honest how many of them needed the internship to learn new skills,.

The whole point of internships is to give people who have qualifications by no expereince an opporutnity to get some experience - while acknowledging that they will be less productive and require more supervision than an expereinced worker.

I believe that the Jobridge scheme is flawed: employers should be paying some of the costs. But that doesn't make it worthless, or necessarily exploitative.

cloudatlas

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

The whole point of internships is to give people who have qualifications by no expereince an opporutnity to get some experience - while acknowledging that they will be less productive and require more supervision than an expereinced worker.

I believe that the Jobridge scheme is flawed: employers should be paying some of the costs. But that doesn't make it worthless, or necessarily exploitative.

I know that's the idea but obviously the market is flooded with people with a few years experience who are desperate and are taken on as interns when they aren't 'interns' they are experienced people being taken for a ride. Employers are going to take the most qualified individual not necessarily the fresh college graduate who really needs it. I can imagine if these employers can get someone who didn't have to be trained for a pittance they would woop with joy, happy days. I still don't think the pay is fair, i did internships before jobbridge existed and I got a decent wage and no welfare officer breathing down my neck either.

KALO

why would a person commit to an internship if they were not desperate to learn a new skill and get there foot in the door.
I mean, why would anyone work for 50 euro on top of there current benefits if it wasnt going to be benefical to them!
I am in my 30s and i want to do an internship to become a professional barber, i think its great because apprenticships in barbering are non existent nowadays and if i wanted to go to barber school it would cost me 2k.
yes the employer gets cheap labour but the intern gets alot more in return.

SCOOP 64

KALO wrote: »

why would a person commit to an internship if they were not desperate to learn a new skill and get there foot in the door.
I mean, why would anyone work for 50 euro on top of there current benefits if it wasnt going to be benefical to them!
I am in my 30s and i want to do an internship to become a professional barber, i think its great because apprenticships in barbering are non existent nowadays and if i wanted to go to barber school it would cost me 2k.
yes the employer gets cheap labour but the intern gets alot more in return.

Good way of getting train in this type of internship because you are learning a skill, not one stacking shelfs etc ,the problem is when you are trained and looking for full time work and find most of barber jobs are filled by internships.
but then you could always set up on your own.

cloudatlas

KALO wrote: »

why would a person commit to an internship if they were not desperate to learn a new skill and get there foot in the door.
I mean, why would anyone work for 50 euro on top of there current benefits if it wasnt going to be benefical to them!
I am in my 30s and i want to do an internship to become a professional barber, i think its great because apprenticships in barbering are non existent nowadays and if i wanted to go to barber school it would cost me 2k.
yes the employer gets cheap labour but the intern gets alot more in return.

Well someone who is qualified may want a jobbridge because there is a growing gap in their C.V. and they know that it is starting to reflect badly on them. Economic coercion is also a factor because the chance that the intern maybe taken on after the job is dangled before their eyes. Only the employer knows at the time of placing the advert whether there is a full time job there or there isn't. If there is a job and they are extracting cheap labour from someone with skills before they give them the job then in my opinion it's unethical, if there isn't a job and they are extracting cheap labour from interns then it is equally unethical. Some people require experience yes but what about people who can't access the job market because of these internships, what about people who have worked hard to get a degree and have got to a point where they need to pay it off and all they can find is work for a pittance with no guarantees. This stops employers from seeking outside funding for decent work placements with good salaries. The statistics speak for themselves. For example none of the 228 Government department JobBridge interns were kept on according to the Irish Independent. I am absolutely disgusted that the government have decided to extend the jobBridge scheme and I don't understand why people can't see how bad it is for workers.

Antifa161

I was under the impression that there was no requirement you saw out the duration of your JobBridge internship, with the idea being that you are free to apply for real jobs (you know, those ones that respect the minimum legal wage) and take them ASAP.

What a disgusting indictment of our society it is when inept millionaires refuse to take fractional wage cuts while the working class are forced to work for nothing "to get through this recession!".

MouseTail

Antifa161 wrote: »

I was under the impression that there was no requirement you saw out the duration of your JobBridge internship, with the idea being that you are free to apply for real jobs (you know, those ones that respect the minimum legal wage) and take them ASAP.

You can.

Max_ Power

extending the whole thing to 18months is a joke! taking advantage to say the least. There is no doubt about it they are great for experience. Would recommend it to anyone that has been out of work for a long period. Also there is some great companies out there could be a matter of trial and error. But give it go, you have to start somewhere.

Antifa161

MouseTail wrote: »

You can.

Then surely 'extending' the length of the JobBridge internships doesn't really mean anything, other than you more time to find work.

A few questions I'd still like answered:

- Are the hours flexible/negotiable. Like I said, most of them say 40 which is fairly preposterous given the conditions. You would think somebody who isn't being paid, who is just there for 'experience' would only need to come in 3 days a week or something. Let's face it, one of the worst things about having a job is giving up your free time and even a regular wage can only barely compensate for that. That may sound like a poor/work-shy attitude to some but it is the concept behind remuneration.

- Can you leave the scheme and go back on the regular dole whenever you want? If it wasn't what you expected or it didn't represent value for money (considering you could be ending up with less per week) can you leave it without having found proper work etc?

- Related to the above question, how long would you think you'd need to 'work' before you could reference the experience on a CV? If you are applying for real jobs while on JB, when can you start including it on your CV?

Denise2012

You need to do a minimum of 30 hours and a max of 40 hours to qualify for jobbridge. You can leave the internship at any time once you give 1 weeks notice to the employer and jobbridge. I would wait at least 3 months before putting it on my CV, but that's just my personal opinion!