Graduate Fog, the careers advice website that campaigns against the exploitation of interns, has revealed another example of bad practice.
See Natalie Gil's report, on The Guardian website, about Simon Cowell's company, SyCo, being criticised for advertising for unpaid interns.
It tells of a Facebook advert that sought "keen as mustard new interns" to work for You Generation, a global online video auditions platform run jointly by SyCo, YouTube and Sony.
Applicants then learned that they would receive expenses and a lunch allowance rather than pay. But the advert was withdrawn after four days.
Gil quotes Sony Music's communications director, Paul Bursche, as saying the advert "didn't fit our intern policy".
There is no evidence that Cowell knew about the advert, but I recall a piece I wrote in December 2011 when the tax authorities investigated allegations that The X Factor had been using unpaid interns behind the scenes.
After Graduate Fog highlighted that case the interns were later compensated for their work, receiving up to £3,000 each.
