Recently, a blogger has exposed the existence of "interns nesting dolls" in CICC, GF Securities, Kaiyuan Securities and other securities companies, saying that some interns are making "paid internal promotions" in the name of regular employees to profit from it. .
Subsequently, a number of brokerages issued statements in response to the incident, saying that the unauthorized recruitment had nothing to do with the company.
A farce may be temporarily subsided, but "paid internal push" has actually been wandering in the gray area of the industry for many years.
"15,000 guaranteed", "We bypassed HR to talk directly with the leader/mentor", "After the internship, there is an internship certificate, a background note, and a recommendation letter", "There is no need for a written test, and the interview is also a process"—— A number of paid-in intermediaries introduced to the Red Star Capital Bureau in this way.
Some people in the industry said that in the process of such "internal and external collusion", the internal staff of the securities company can take a commission ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands of yuan.
Interns fooling interns?
Four securities firms including CICC responded
Recently, a well-known blogger @王大如山 exposed the fact that several well-known brokerage research institutes have interns pretending to be regular employees to recruit interns to help them complete their internships; .
The Red Star Capital Bureau noticed that the operation of the "Intern Matryoshka" is actually not complicated, and it has been exposed many times before.
The specific operation is that a third-party institution or individual falsely uses the name of a brokerage firm or a regular employee to release false recruitment information, or to charge a fee to job seekers on the grounds of providing job seekers with opportunities for interviews, internships, and internal referrals, or It is a free labor that defrauds job seekers, causing misleading and loss to job seekers.
After the incident, CICC issued a statement stating that for campus recruitment and intern recruitment, CICC's official website is currently the only channel for CICC to obtain candidates' resumes.
CICC has not cooperated with any unit, third-party job-seeking agency or individual to recommend any resumes, nor has it authorized any institution or individual to conduct written tests, interview coaching, or provide CICC interviews, internships or job opportunities on behalf of CICC, nor has CICC been authorized to do so. Never edited or published any internal materials and information about written tests, interviews, etc.
The Human Resources Department of CICC will communicate directly with the candidates and will not ask for any fees.
All personnel to be hired will be directly communicated by the Human Resources Department to go through the on-boarding procedures, and the work can be officially started after all the on-boarding procedures are completed.
According to media reports, the CICC interns involved have been fired.
On May 27, the Red Star Capital Bureau repeatedly called CICC's public landline number, but no one answered.
In addition, GF Securities, Guosen Securities, and Kaiyuan Securities also issued announcements in response to the incident, all of which stated that the unauthorized recruitment had nothing to do with the company, and they angrily denounced paid internships. official recruitment channels.
GF Securities also stated in the statement that it will conduct background checks on candidates’ past experiences. If any applicants are found to intend to enter into transactions with such institutions and individuals as similar to “guaranteed recommendation” agreements or so-called “examination materials” and other documents, The company will take measures such as canceling their qualifications for employment and canceling their employment notices depending on the situation.
A farce has come to an end, but there are still many unanswered questions.
Why is an internship experience so important?
Why can interns pretend to be the chief recruiter of the institute?
Why do you need paid internships?
Financial professional internship experience is a "soft background"
The open recruitment of leading brokerages is demanding
"For students majoring in finance, internship experience is almost necessary." Xiaolan (pseudonym), a senior finance student who is applying to study abroad, told the Red Star Capital Bureau, "The financial industry is an involution within an involution. First of all, financial The barriers to entry in the industry are very high, and many companies have target colleges; secondly, there are many graduates majoring in finance, and the job competition is fierce.
Xiaolan said that under such circumstances, a beautiful resume is of great benefit in studying abroad and applying for jobs, so the classmates around her tried their best to "brush" a perfect resume when she was a sophomore and junior. , and the most flexible part is the internship experience, known as the "soft background".
But it is not easy to get an internship in a top brokerage company.
The Red Star Capital Bureau found that the official website of CICC shows that the recruitment requirements for interns include education, experience and skills, and the requirements are relatively high.
In terms of academic qualifications, many positions in CICC require "key institutions" and "full-time undergraduate and master students in well-known domestic and foreign institutions"; in terms of experience, "3 months of research and internship experience in the seller's industry is preferred", "with Internship experience in secondary market research", "internship experience in securities companies is preferred"; in terms of skills, there are major changes according to different industries and positions, including "English can be used as a working language (required)", "Proficient use of Excel performs data processing work and masters various Excel functions, including but not limited to vlookup, index, etc.
Xiao Lan, who used to intern at Everbright Securities, told the Red Star Capital Bureau that she had undergone two rounds of interviews before entering Everbright Securities, both of which were difficult.
Well-known investors told Red Star Capital Bureau that in the securities industry, formal winter and summer vacation internships have great retention opportunities, and will also be of great help in future formal job hunting, so internship experience is very important.
It is in such a competitive environment that some gray industries have surfaced.
Intermediaries break through the grey area:
15,000 guaranteed, but can only write "project experience"
Weibo blogger @王大如山 introduced to the Red Star Capital Bureau that paid internal referrals in the securities industry are generally divided into two categories, which he called "empty gloves and white wolf" and "internal and external collusion".
"Empty gloves and white wolves" refers to the fact that intermediaries do not have actual internal referral channels and quotas, but after receiving the money, they cast a wide net with the student's resume, and if they are successful, it is "internal referral success".
In practice, intermediaries can improve this process by developing training courses, establishing information collection platforms, and cooperating with financial institutions to hold online seminars. Internships are guaranteed.
"Internal and external collusion" is the real money to buy an internship, which is simply "going through the back door".
Some industry personnel who are engaged in job search consultants told the Red Star Capital Bureau that the general price of such paid internal referrals is between 20,000 and 40,000 yuan.
On May 25th, the Red Star Capital Bureau searched Taobao for "Nipui" and found that there are a lot of product links.
Chen Ming (pseudonym), a staff member of an intermediary agency, told the Red Star Capital Bureau that almost all leading brokerage companies can be referred internally, accept designated companies and positions, and cover them.
"Guangfa's internship costs 14,000 yuan, investment banks and research institutes can enter, guaranteed, business trips include board and lodging, and graduate students are paid." Chen Ming said, "What I did is to introduce you for the first time, and how long will the internship be after entering? In fact, everything is ok, and the relationship with the leaders is better, and I can continue my internship next summer."
When the Red Star Capital Bureau inquired whether to participate in the written test interview, Chen Ming said that "there is no need for a written test and an interview to go through the process", and said "this is a direct submission of resumes by leaders, and any leader who likes it can push it, no problem."
However, Chen Ming also said that not all resumes can be passed. Entering the top brokerage companies generally requires a degree of "minimum 211". The ordinary one is difficult, and the second one directly says, "If you can't go to a brokerage, go to an Internet company." ".
Liu Feng (pseudonym), a staff member of another intermediary agency, provided Red Star Capital Bureau with an internship offer for entering CICC, "CICC only has remote internships, 5,000 per month for remote internships, and 2,000 for each additional month thereafter, what position? Either way.” In other words, taking the internship period from March to June as an example, students need to pay 9,000-15,000 yuan.
Like the services provided by Chen Ming's company, Liu Feng also said that after the internship, there are internship certificates, background notes, and recommendation letters, and there is also no need to participate in the written test. "The interview questions will be sent to the students in advance, just go through the process."
It is worth noting that Liu Feng specifically explained to the Red Star Capital Bureau that if a student submits a resume to a securities company after the event, "If you apply for another company, the resume can be written as an internship experience, and the instructor will cooperate with the background; It can be written as a project experience, but not an internship experience, because the tutors cooperate with us and do not go to HR.”
In one sentence, it breaks through the gray area of the industry.
In this regard, Weibo blogger @王大如山 explained that the internship opportunities released by financial institutions are generally divided into two types: the first one is organized by the company's human resources department, such as the annual winter and summer vacation interns recruitment; The second type is the recruitment operated by the business department itself, and the above-mentioned "internal and external collusion" introspection mostly occurs in the second type of internship recruitment.
The emergence of such recruitment loopholes is mostly due to the actual decision to recruit grass-roots employees mainly from departments or teams, and many of them have been pulled down by intermediaries.
@王大如山 said that the profit share of this part ranges from several thousand to tens of thousands, and there is no fixed number, but the compliance risk is very high, so compared with the paid internal promotion of "empty gloves and white wolves", the internal and external collusion of "internal and external collusion" Not many pushes.
Paid in-feeds are suspected of unfair competition or fraud
Ministry of Education pays attention to internship chaos
Is paid referral legal?
What legal risks exist in the above-mentioned behavior of interns pretending to be regular employees to recruit interns?
On May 26, Song Jingyi, a lawyer from Beijing Jingshi Law Firm, said in an interview with the Red Star Capital Bureau that there are two types of paid internal referrals. Pushing may be to seek profit from the interests of the company's top management, which in disguise violates the equal employment rights of other job-seekers, and is unfair competition.
Song Jingyi said that if the position does not exist or the company does not recognize any form of personal or institutional payment, such as the impersonation of the above-mentioned intern, it may be suspected of fraud and false publicity, which may constitute a crime of fraud in serious cases.
Students charged may file a civil lawsuit or pursue a case for relief.
Song Jingyi commented that this kind of situation is common in the financial investment banking circle, but it wanders in a gray area, and there are many people who actually get offers in this way.
The labor and employment department should issue relevant policies to ensure the employment of college students and regulate the job market.
In fact, chaos such as paid internships has long been concerned by the Ministry of Education.
In January this year, eight departments including the Ministry of Education jointly issued the newly revised "Regulations on the Management of Student Internships in Vocational Schools", which clearly stipulated that "it is strictly forbidden to organize internships in violation of regulations for the purpose of profit". Internships draw a red line and clarify the code of conduct.
In addition, due to the company's image and potential legal disputes, in recent years, the chaos of internships has been concerned by many securities companies and has been rectified, such as strengthening the management of regular employees, expanding the number of vacation interns, and improving the background of internships.
In 2019, the China Securities Association also jointly organized the "Flying Plan · Internships for College Students in the Securities Industry" with various departments, aiming to provide more internship opportunities for school students.
Coinciding with the graduation season, these "paid introductory" cases that are on the gray edge of the industry and the law also reflect the intensified competition in the industry, the anxiety of students' employment, and the contradiction between supply and demand of related jobs.
Red Star News reporter Yu Yao Xie Yutong