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Unpaid jobs tread 'can tread the line of exploitation'

Graduates often take on unpaid jobs to take their first step into a career and in some industries this is a common practice, however in certain cases, this type of employment comes close to exploitation, an expert has said.

Dan Hawes, co-founder of the Graduate Recruitment Bureau (GRB), said this is because these opportunities were more likely to be viable for candidates in a good financial situation than those who are struggling and therefore could be seen as unfair.

This follows recent comments made by Kayte Lawton of the Institute for Public Policy Research.

In an interview with the BBC, she said that a "culture shift" was needed to make graduate recruitment better for those who have to work without money, as well as those that may miss out because they cannot afford to.

"We need the big employers to lead the way on this because they have the resources and power to pay interns and make sure they have good working conditions," she added.