Each year I receive several requests for reference letters in support of students' applications for internships and summer jobs. A summer internship allows students to check out a career path that interests them.
For undergraduate students, undertaking an internship is de rigueur. It is considered essential to jump-starting a career, building confidence, motivation and professional work habits that are necessary to succeed.
Ross Perlin, author of Intern Nation, one of the first books on the internship boom, writes: 'In much of the developed world, the subtle, relentless pressure to do an internship is now simply part of being young.'
As I routinely write these reference letters, it is obvious that students with well-connected parents are among the first to secure placements, often paid ones. Last year, the Mail on Sunday exposed a controversial auction at a Conservative Party fund-raiser where a selection of prestigious internships had been auctioned off to party donors. For between ?,000 (HK$24,000) and ?,000, wealthy Tory supporters were able to secure a week or a fortnight's work experience for their children at renowned employers.
Amid the criticisms that were hurled and the justifications made, everyone involved in the controversy seems to agree on one thing: that a few days of vaguely defined work as an intern are now a crucial early building block for a desirable white-collar career.
So how do students who are not fortunate enough to benefit from that privilege get secure internships? Where do they begin?