Screenshot of chat between the interviewee and the intermediary. Photograph provided by respondents Wang Mengqi, a junior student from a "double non" college in the south (referring to a non "double first-class" construction college), recently experienced an unforgettable "job hunting" experience: she was preparing to apply for overseas colleges and universities. In order to increase her competitiveness, she wanted to have some experience of practice in foreign enterprises as soon as possible, but almost fell into the "pay in push" fraud.
Nowadays, many college students apply for studying abroad, and quite a few overseas colleges attach great importance to students' social activities and practical experience, and the more top universities value these practical experiences. In addition to striving for better scores in their scores, many Chinese students also hope to have dazzling internship experience as the "shining point" in their resumes.
Now, it is the graduation season of 2024, some lawbreakers and unscrupulous institutions take the opportunity to dig "holes" and set up traps. Chaos such as "payment push in" and "paid employment" happen from time to time. A little search on some network platforms shows that "× 10000 yuan has entered the power grid, tobacco, railway, oil and other good enterprises". "As long as more than 30000 yuan of full process service classes have been reported, 98% of the landing rate will be" And other information will emerge one after another.
In April this year, the Ministry of Education issued a special reminder to remind college students to be alert to such job hunting traps as "paid in push", "interns' dolls", "false recruitment" and "illegal pyramid selling". A few days ago, the Ministry of Education once again issued a "job search tip": "It is less than two months before graduates leave school, and it is the critical period for college graduates to find jobs. Some lawbreakers are digging" holes "under the guise of recruitment. Money fraud, information theft, crime induction and other phenomena occur from time to time, seriously damaging graduates' employment rights and interests", Remind students to guard against four kinds of traps, including illegal job intermediary trap, recruitment charge trap, recruitment fraud trap, and "dirty" contract trap.
How did the threshold of the workplace become a starting price booth? What harm does it do to college students when they fall into the trap? How to put an end to this phenomenon? Recently, the reporter of Zhongqing Daily and Zhongqing Net interviewed many college students, teachers and experts, and analyzed this phenomenon.
Supply and demand go hand in hand, and "shortcut" is not necessarily the shortest way
"Our school is not a famous school, and the internship opportunities obtained through the school channel are basically some unknown small enterprises, which have no gold content." Wang Mengqi said that, in order to enrich her resume, she began to look for opportunities on various social platforms, and finally saw a piece of information on a social platform called "Internship in a large factory". The blogger said that he successfully entered the "big factory" through this "paid in push" method, so he was willing to help others obtain internship opportunities through the same way.
"Compassionate", Wang Mengqi, who thought that she had found a "companion", suddenly increased her trust in the blogger. She quickly contacted the blogger and submitted her resume.
However, after communication, Wang Mengqi found that the WeChat recommended to her by this "kindred spirit" person was not personal, but an intermediary WeChat called "×× job search consultant". In the chat with the intermediary, Wang Mengqi was told that she needed to pay an internal promotion fee of 100000 to 200000 yuan. After paying this amount, the intermediary could ensure that she could enter the company for an interview through internal promotion and finally get a job opportunity.
Seeing this, Wang Mengqi realized that she had fallen into the current popular "paid push in" fraud, immediately stopped providing more information, and reported the blogger's WeChat.
In fact, "internal promotion" is not a new phenomenon in the job market. It means that in-service employees recommend familiar talents to work in their own companies. The internal recommendation generally does not involve any cost, and the recommender is usually based on the understanding and trust of the candidate, rather than monetary relationship.
So how did this kind of way of "offering good people without avoiding relatives" evolve into a money transaction, or even a trap?
According to the contact information provided by Wang Mengqi, the reporter of Zhongqing Daily and Zhongqing Net contacted the blogger who published the internal news and was drawn into the "internal service group" by the blogger in the same way.
When the reporter told the intermediary the same needs as Wang Mengqi, the intermediary immediately copied and pasted a large section of "script" : "Our internship program is paid, and 100% guarantees the internship offers of your matching target companies and positions (such as MBB consulting, four major audit/consulting, foreign investment banks/securities firms, Internet/technology giants, FMCG/luxury goods/automobile giants, etc., all of which are the leading companies in various fields or core positions of Fortune Global 500 enterprises) The project cost of internship insurance enrollment is 9800 yuan at the beginning. The price varies according to different companies/positions/duration, and so on. Can you accept it? "
In the communication, the intermediary said that it can not only provide the opportunity of "internal promotion", but also help with the application for studying abroad and how to complete the job application resume. "As long as we pay the relevant fees, we will ensure that your interview is passed, and be responsible for contacting the tutors in the company to guide the interview preparation and future work content and other related matters." The intermediary said.
In addition, the institution not only provides paid internship positions, but also provides services such as scientific research experience and professor recommendation letters, with prices ranging from 30000 to 300000 yuan according to different needs.
Supply and demand are always accompanied by each other. Some college students need to get internship experience quickly but cannot get it, so some people have taken advantage of it.
In a recent tip, the Ministry of Education said that college graduates should sharpen their "eyes" to identify fraud, master "tricks" to prevent traps, and be vigilant when encountering "beautiful sounding" information such as "living less, making more money", "easy money", "lying flat and making money", and "good things" such as "pie in the sky". They should check more, ask more, and be prepared to avoid "stepping on the thunder" and "falling into the pit" 。
With the mentality of taking shortcuts, what is waiting for is not necessarily "pie", but more likely to be "trap".
Public information is bought at a high price, but real talent and practical knowledge cannot be bought by paying
If college students pay, can they really get the services promised by these institutions?
Li Haoran also had a hard time finding a job. He was so worried that he spent 36800 yuan to participate in a plan of the organization. The intermediary promised Li Haoran that he would get the job offer within three months.
In the past three months, Li Haoran has enjoyed the "expert lectures" promised by the organization, which include skills in the process of interview and resume delivery, but Li Haoran found that these contents are actually no different from the learning resources and skills published on the public platform. In addition, Li Haoran also found that the internal promotion channels publicized by institutions are actually some online public information.
The services and information bought with money are only public resources on the Internet, which is the first level. Some students spend a lot of money to get "offers" that are meaningless to their personal development.
Zhang Chen, a junior majoring in new media who is determined to study abroad, decided to seize the "olive branch" thrown by the intermediary.
Zhang Chen wanted to further his studies in China, but failed in the postgraduate entrance examination, which made him a little confused about the future. While he was considering the future direction, the advertisement of "one-stop service" for internships in well-known foreign enterprises offered by overseas study institutions attracted his attention. With an undergraduate background of "double non", he did not have high expectations for the level of the target school for studying abroad, but the dazzling introduction of the intermediary made him excited. After paying an intermediary fee of more than 100000 yuan, he had expectations for a better life after he entered the factory.
But happiness is short. The dream bubble depicted by the intermediary is broken with a gentle poke.
When Zhang Chen arrived at the so-called famous advertising company, he found that his daily work was to sort out forms and paperwork and other trivial chores, without any exercise at all.
According to the intermediary agencies, the "paid push in" they provide can be divided into several types. The most basic form is to provide recommendation letters and support the personal background survey of tutors after the end of the remote internship. In addition, there is a more advanced service.
According to the fees paid by Zhang Chen, we can enjoy high-level services. "The intermediary told me that in addition to internship opportunities and certification, we can also participate in scientific research projects in colleges and universities, and even obtain a recommendation letter from professors." Zhang Chen said.
However, after receiving the internship certificate, when Zhang Chen asked the intermediary about the background survey, the intermediary's reply was vague: "It supports the background survey, but it cannot be used as the background of the company's experience". After understanding, Zhang Chen realized that his internship was not recorded in the company's personnel system, and the so-called support background survey only supports the "mentor" It's just a background check. The "mentors" here have a lot to do with it. Many bloggers who reflect the "paid push in" fraud said that some of these so-called "mentors" are the most ordinary employees of the company, and even some are only temporary workers who sign labor dispatch contracts with the company.
As for "participating in scientific research projects in colleges and universities" and "obtaining recommendation letters from professors", there is no trace. One netizen commented on the post of the exposed "paid in push" intermediary: "Who would have thought that the recommendation letter we received with complacency might just be something fabricated by the black hand behind the scenes using his position?"
If you step on the pit, can you recover the loss?
It's hard.
According to the requirements and steps in the purchase of "One to one package of courses for famous teachers", Zhang Chen delivered his resume and prepared for an interview, but finally failed to obtain the position as expected. When he contacted the intermediary agency to ask for a refund, the agency refused the refund on the ground that "the failure to receive the offer is due to its own reason, and has nothing to do with the agency".
Zhang Chen sought to safeguard his rights in many ways, but no result has been achieved.
Experts suggest establishing a unified and standardized practice system
In an interview with the reporter of China Youth Daily and China Youth Network, Chu Zhaohui, a researcher of the Chinese Academy of Educational Sciences, analyzed the chronic disease of the internship system. Chu Zhaohui pointed out that one of the major dilemmas facing college students is the urgent need for internship opportunities to obtain professional experience and graduation certificates, which has just become the target of some commercial institutions. Some institutions, in the name of providing internship opportunities, have carried out excessive commercialization, which is actually a disguised abuse of power, far from an informal way to study.
Chu Chaohui further explained that the root cause of this problem is the lack of a unified and standardized internship system in insurance, labor security, teacher guidance and labor remuneration. Because of the uncertainty of interns, enterprises are cautious and unwilling to open too many internship opportunities; Some universities also have problems in process management, unable to effectively meet the needs of enterprises
The superposition of these factors leads to the unsmooth practice path of college students.
On the other hand, some schools put the burden of finding internship opportunities on students. Chu Zhaohui believes that only if colleges and universities can arrange internships normally and guarantee smooth channels and necessary rights and interests, can they put an end to those business practices in the name of internships in the market, so as to fundamentally solve the problem. "For students, in the increasingly fierce competition in the job market, they should keep a clear head and never trust those seemingly attractive shortcuts," Chu Zhaohui said.
Recently, the Ministry of Education also reminded college graduates to strengthen "three awareness", namely, "risk prevention awareness", "information security awareness" and "awareness of safeguarding rights according to law".
Many colleges and universities have also noticed these phenomena in the society, and have taken measures to improve students' internship experience and employment preparation, so as to avoid students falling into similar employment traps. Taking Beijing International Studies University as an example, Zhou Yitong, the employment instructor of the school, introduced that, first of all, the school will provide more practical and reasonable employment guidance for students' actual business and professional ability training to improve their ability to solve practical problems; Secondly, the school will strengthen the contact and cooperation with employers, care about and train students together, so that they can learn really useful skills in practice.
Zhou Yitong also said that relevant departments also need to improve the rules and regulations, create a reasonable and efficient practice model, aiming to reduce formalistic practice and prevent students from wasting time. By formulating clear practice norms and standards, we can avoid the phenomenon of low-quality practice and protect the rights and interests of students.
(At the request of the interviewee, all the students in the middle school are pseudonyms)
Source: China Youth Daily
Editor in charge: Zhang Di
