“I’ll Pay 6 Million Won for an Internship at a Major Company”… Chinese College Students Pay “Placement Fees” to Get Full-Time Jobs

Chinese College Students Squeezed by Fierce Job Competition
Placement Fees at Prestigious Companies Near 6 Million Won
18% Unemployment; Students Fall Victim to Fake Certificates and Recommendation Letters

As competition for jobs intensifies in China, more college students are paying placement fees of millions of won to secure internships at well-known companies. Observers say a market for so-called “paid internships” is taking shape, requiring students to spend substantial sums even before they begin their job search, as pressure mounts to gain practical experience before applying for entry-level positions.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on October 25, Wang Guilin, an undergraduate accounting student, recently faced two options while looking for a winter internship: go through the regular recruitment process and compete with thousands of applicants, or pay thousands of yuan to secure an internship.

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Wang judged that his average academic record would make it difficult to land an internship at a well-known company, and even considered paying a broker. “These positions usually go to third- and fourth-year students at top universities or students with extensive internship experience,” he said. “In my situation, I would even consider paying a referrer to secure a position.”

Internships at Major Companies Cost Up to KRW 6 Million—Several Months’ Pay for New Graduates

Services sold by companies in the field range from standard career coaching, such as resume editing and interview preparation, to packages advertised as guaranteeing an internship at a specific company.

A college student looks at job postings at a job fair in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China, on February 24, 2024. Reuters.

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The problem is the price. Wang was quoted 6,000 to 12,000 yuan (about KRW 1.27 million to KRW 2.38 million) for a winter internship at a major accounting firm. Summer internships were reportedly even more expensive. Online, some people have also shared accounts of paying as much as 30,000 yuan (about KRW 6 million) to get an internship.

According to estimates by MyCOS, a Chinese education research and consulting firm, the average monthly income of 2025 college graduates six months after graduation was 6,435 yuan (about KRW 1.28 million). In other words, securing a single internship can cost several months’ pay for a new college graduate.

Youth Unemployment at 18%: “They Demand Experience Even for Entry-Level Jobs”

Students are willing to bear these costs because they expect internship experience to improve their chances of finding an office job later on.

China’s youth unemployment rate stood at 18% in September. During the summer graduation season, a record 12.7 million college graduates entered the labor market. Some graduates who could not find entry-level jobs reportedly turned to food delivery or freelance work, while others even looked into factory production jobs.

A job seeker is interviewed at the 2023 Information Security Job Fair held at the Science and Technology Convention Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Yonhap News Agency

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As the job market tightens, college students are increasingly feeling pressure to build up internship experience and earn various qualifications before graduation. Analysts say this has led to internships themselves being traded as another form of “job-market credentials.”

Paid for a “Fake Internship”: Forged Certificates and Recommendation Letters

As the situation has worsened, fraudulent internships exploiting jobseekers’ anxiety have also emerged. In July, China’s state-run People’s Daily reported that a company in Guangzhou had impersonated employees of well-known domestic and international companies, assigned students remote work, and then issued internship certificates and recommendation letters bearing forged electronic seals.

There have also been reports of employees at well-known companies arranging separate remote-work contracts with interns without officially registering them in the companies’ human resources systems. This means that even if students pay for and perform actual work, the experience may not be recognized as a formal internship.

Stewart Gittel-Basten, a professor in the Division of Social Science and the Division of Public Policy at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said, “Anxiety about AI, slowing economic growth, and an increasing number of young college graduates entering the labor market are converging to heighten young people’s employment anxiety. The most unscrupulous organizations will exploit that anxiety.”

He added, “What is most concerning is that jobs may go not to the most talented young people, but to those who can afford unpaid internships or private career-support services.”

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