How do we solve the great internship conundrum and give all young people a fair chance? - Ismail Mulla

And the best way to do this is by accumulating as much on the job experience as possible.

However, there is an inherent unfairness in this that disadvantages those who do not come from privileged backgrounds. By privileged backgrounds I don’t mean there’s a Maybach parked on the driveway with a driver on standby.

What I mean is those who are able to afford to work for free because their families are able to support them. It is indeed a privilege to be able to gain experience towards your dream career without having to worry about earning while doing so.

Every university course pretty much encourages its students to gain some work experience and two or three weeks here and there shouldn’t be an issue. The real problem is with unpaid internships.

Some universities have begun to take action against such schemes but even when higher education institutions discourage students from unpaid internships, that doesn’t stop them. Ultimately, it’s down to individual employers to put an end to the practice.

Ending unpaid internships doesn’t solve the issue either.

When it comes to accessing internships, the gap between working class and middle class graduates is increasing, according to the Sutton Trust.

A poll of more than 1,200 recent graduates, conducted by Public First for the Sutton Trust, showed half have undertaken an internship.

Almost a third of graduates said they were only able to access their current job thanks to their internship. But the report added the gap between working-class graduates and their middle-class peers in accessing internships has widened, standing at 20 per cent compared to 12 per cent in 2018.

The education charity says the trend is driven by employers continuing to underpay interns, and giving opportunities to family and friends rather than advertising them.

Internships hold a particular interest for me. I wouldn’t be where I am without one. That’s how I got my start at The Yorkshire Post.

The newspaper’s business desk teamed up with the Printing Charity to create a year-long paid internship.

It gave me valuable hands-on experience and the opportunity to work alongside seasoned professionals. I’d done the odd week here and there of work experience but never been fully immersed in the newsroom.

It is an opportunity that I will forever be grateful for. But had family influence played a role in selection for the internship, I would never have had a chance owing to my lack of connections in the media.

Instead I was interviewed twice, once by the then business editor of this august title and a regional representative of the charity. Both of them would go on to say that I came across as someone who deeply cared about journalism.

That is why I feel there needs to be a national internship charter, whereby businesses sign up not only to make sure internships are funded but that selection for them is to be conducted in a fair and open manner. Perhaps with at least one external member on the selection panel.

That, of course, won’t prevent some selections from being influenced by connections but it does give young people from an array of backgrounds a chance to secure valuable experience.

Why should businesses agree to what some may see as an extra layer of bureaucracy? Well it could open them up to a sea of untapped potential.

Hungry young people wanting to prove themselves, whose life experiences bring another dimension to the business. A different way of approaching problems.

Obviously, in some instances, it could go in the other direction. Opening up access to internships is not going to deliver milk and honey to businesses. But until we try to open up opportunities, we will never know.

The Government has pledged to ban unpaid internships but I’m unconvinced that it would make a difference when it comes to tackling inequality in opportunity.

It needs all stakeholders to come together and to commit to not only building better workforces for the future but also better communities for the future. When doors are opened to careers for people from working class neighbourhoods, it can inspire others from a similar background to also aspire to do the same.