internships

Hot on the heels of our recent summary of juicy intern roles, news reaches Chinwag Towers from Channel 4 of their Generation Next Programme.

Focusing on potential rather than age, skills or qualifications, seven lucky interns will get an in-depth ten week placement,

Spring has sprung. Even the plant life inside Chinwag Towers is showing signs of life despite its usual mistreatment.

It's also the time of the year when soon-to-be graduates, and those about to embark on their gap year start the hunt for a worthwhile pursuit to fill the coming months.

Following our call for internships and work placements a few weeks back, here's a round-up of the response we got. For enterprising souls, there's certainly plenty of experience to be gained at some great digital companies, check out the list of available placements: 

• addidas
• PharmiWeb Solutions
• INPROMO GmbH
• Flip Media FZ LLC
• Amberlight Partners
• FootballUnited.com
• Global Beach
• fish in a bottle
• Pitchup.com
• Direct Traffic Media
• Browser Creative
• ParcelPoke Limited
• Carve Consulting
• Great Marketing Works
• Smarkets
• Guru
• Bluw-i
• Halpern Cowan
• Quirk Emarketing Ltd
• Brightlemon Ltd
• Spotless Interactive
• OpenBusiness.cc

This list was put together purely as a rough'n'ready trial, it's a list of internships and work placements only. If you're looking for a full-time or freelance role, check out the full listings on our sister site, Chinwag Jobs (hint: there's a list of the latest and greatest to your right-hand side).

We'd also love to hear from employers and interns on their experiences, so do leave a comment or drop us a line. It's always good to get a steer on the state of the industry, both good and bad.

In spite of job prospects for graduates looking bleak, there appears to be lots of opportunities in the digital sector to score some fantastic internship opportunities.

Roll up, roll up, we'll be publishing the list of programmes at the end of this week...if you'd like to include your company's programme/requirements, fill out the simple form and yes, it's all free, just something we're trying out.

Last week, a student on the hunt for work experience, posted to Chinwag's uk-design email discussion list:

"I am looking to do a web dev / usability / UX type internship but the results of my search thus far have been disappointing. Most of the places I have been in touch with seem to want a general office bod who will do menial tasks for free under the guise of "work experience". I'm aware that most of these positions are unpaid, and I'm happy to do that, as long as I'm learning something along the way.

Fortunately, the good folks on the uk-design list responded en masse and we later heard that she'd found a suitable spot in under 24 hours. What followed, was a flurry of firms asking for interns.

We're big fans of intern programmes at Chinwag and have had a few successful candidates pass through Chinwag Towers. Seeing such a strong interest, we've decided to gather the information together, and summarise in a blog post, or something more industrial, if necessary.

If your firm, or you know people looking for real interns and not just office juniors, please do get them to fill out the form below.

There's some exciting positions that have been added already from the likes of Pharmiweb and Adidas, so add yours. We'll leave the form open for a few days.

There are a lot of challenges for any company taking on an intern.

From where to advertise the vacancy to the costs involved in hosting and training can all be a drain on company resources.

It's been challenging at Chinwag, so I bent the ear of Dominic Potter, co-founder of Internocracy, a company that helps employers set up and run their internship programmes.

Here's a brief run-down of his top-tips to consider before taking on an intern:

For the debt-riddled graduates flooding the jobs market, an internship is an essential bridge to full-time work and enthusiastic young, relatively cheap, talent has its own rewards for employers. But stay on the right side of the law.

Employment law can be a tricky business and the fallacy that an internship equals free labour could potentially land a company in hot water.

There are a few basic legal rules worth bearing in mind should you wish to offer an internship.

Danvers Baillieu, technology lawyer at Winston & Strawn LLP and Bootlaw founder addressed this very issue at a Bootlaw meetup evening earlier this year:

"The shades of grey apply particularly in relation to the requirements of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 (NMWA 1998)"

Under the National Minimum Wage Act (NMWA 1998), anyone who is a worker, that is a person who is employed by you and no one else, must be paid, the minimum wage and according to the act a worker is defined as:

“an individual who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, worked under)" is an employee and must be paid accordingly.

Exemption from the rule are builders, accountants or other types of contractors. The minimum wage for over 22 year olds is £5.73/hour (£229.20/week based on 40hrs) and £4.77/hour (£190.80/wk) for 18-22 year olds.

The benefits of having an intern are numerous. It’s not just cheap labour and someone to make the tea.

Many organisations are reaping the rewards that come with an internship and a skilled graduate.

It was a case of unknown territory when Chinwag took on Gregory, our first tech intern. It took time and effort to get him started, but the investment paid off and the work he did was invaluable.

So, in the sprit of this, we’ve created a series of blog posts, from an employer's perspective, that aim to cover everything you need to know about offering an internship.

Hot on the heels of the digital placement program, news reaches us of another initiative in the North West for recent graduates looking for careers in the interesting world where new media meets TV and radio, North West b.TWEEN TV Platforms.

This Autumn could be a testing time for some of the 400,000 graduates looking for a digital career, with the number of vacancies taking a dip, competition will be hotter than ever.

Internships and work placements, when well executed well, can be a fast-track way to getting a dream job as well as providing employers with seasoned recruits.

We're big fans at Chinwag with two interns currently learning about the industry and providing valued help in a busy environment.

News of another great scheme has reached Chinwag Towers. Creative digital support agency Northwest Vision and Media are working to help make the region’s new talent make the right start - and partnering with agencies keen to find them.