Anyways, I am now an intern at Which?, fully paid (though minimum wage) and able to support myself financially here in London. I have enough money to pay the rent, buy food and go to the cinema once in a while. I don’t really go out and I had some savings with which I bought a bike to avoid further transport costs. I find it horrible that graduates should work for free and I find it even more horrible that some people do. While I understand their desperation it is simply not fair as it only feeds into the system of exploitation. Nevertheless I acknowledge that I am extremely lucky. The staff are awesome – they are nice and treat you like their equal. Also, I get the same benefits as every other employee (pension and reductions on many purchases). And unlike interns in other companies I get to do proper work like everybody else here: I am currently doing economic research in finance and renewable energy, attend all the staff meetings and can join other team members when they meet MPs to lobby or consult with other companies or organisations.

I think companies that claim that they don’t have money are often just lying – which?’s only income is through the sales of their magazine. They don’t make a huge profit and most of the profit they do make goes back into funding their market research and paying their employees a decent wage. I can only recommend it as a great place for work experience and can only hope that other companies and organisations will follow the lead and pay their graduates appropriately.

As an intern at Fidequity you will be an integral member of our team and will work hands-on with all team-members. Some of your tasks will include: researching the private equity market, database management and presentation preparation, along with general administrative duties.
Please note that this is an unpaid internship, however, reasonable out-of-pocket expenses, such as travel, will be reimbursed.

Staggering. As the person who emailed us this advert said:

No private equity firm who is still solvent cannot afford to pay staff for admin work. So either this is truly despicable money-grubbing, or it’s a conscious filtering ploy to ensure that only people who were born with a silver spoon can afford the admission fee to enter their hallowed industry.

Any financial services interns care to comment? Or even better – write to us with your own intern stories. Both good and bad.