Is it easy to get information about the company? Be wary of those that appear to operate purely from a web site, mobile or premium rate number (e.g. those beginning with 0845), PO Box number or Hotmail / gmail account.

Opportunities that should be carefully checked out are those that:

• Are based on pyramid selling or multi-level marketing.
• Might compromise your health and safety - for example, lone working, clinical drugs trials, and responsibility for large amounts of cash.
• Conflict with the University’s working practices – for example, businesses that encourage plagiarism by selling essays, dissertations and specimen examination answers.
• Charge for services provided free by the University.
• Might be a ‘scam’ or are ‘phishing’ for personal financial data for fraudulent purposes such as money laundering.

Are the opportunities on offer presented professionally with correct use of English, spelling and grammar?

Are the following details offered? A full job description, including the skills and qualifications required, together with the proposed wage, working hours and dates of employment.

Does the job comply with Equality legislation covering disability, sex, race, religion and belief, sexual orientation or age?

Does the job comply with the National Minimum Wage?

Are there specific requirements that mean you will not be able to enjoy the employment rights that normally accrue to workers – for example:

• Registering as self employed/working on a freelance basis.
• Working from home or providing equipment and/or materials of your own.
• Working in a private household without the support of an approved agency.
• Working on a ‘commission only’ or ‘piece rate’ basis.
• Being paid ‘in kind’ – for example, by receiving meals, vouchers or event tickets.

Watch out for:

• Use of job titles such as ‘financial manager’, ‘self employed consultant’, ‘UK representative’, ‘shipping manager’, ‘account executive’.
• Being asked to disclose details such as a personal bank account, national insurance number and/or passport number prior to interview.
• Requests to use your bank account to process the organisation’s purchases, sales or deposits or to make money transfers abroad.
• Having to make an upfront financial investment or significant deposit to cover administrative/registration fees.
• Being referred on to different numbers, web sites or a different company name than the one you saw in the original advert.
• Being asked to sign up new members to sell for you.
• Most simply, sounding too good to be true – promises of a good salary or high commissions in a short space of time without you having to have related skills or experience.
• Finally, be alert for unsolicited invitations to apply for jobs or join a firm. They can be a screen for getting you to disclose bank account details on the pretext that they are needed for you to be paid.

Further advice can be found at

• Netcred
• Consumer Rights
• Bank Safe Online

Online information is open to everyone, so make sure you put essential personal security settings in place. On your CV, only provide your mobile phone number and professional e-mail and/or web site URL. NEVER include your date of birth or any financial or national insurance details. See www.getsafeonline.org

Be aware of your study commitments. Although there are no restrictions in law for EU students, we advise no more than 16 hours a week in work to ensure that your studies are not adversely affected. International students must abide by the conditions of their visa.

Currently there is no legal definition, but the use of the term is usually taken to imply structured work experience that will be invaluable when applying for work in your chosen sector. Many students and graduates take up internships as they are a significant source of work experience, as well as a major route into employment.

A large proportion of internships are advertised as unpaid even though you may be required to work to a very demanding contract of employment for anything up to 12 months. Unless there are specific exemptions within the legislation (for example, work for charities and voluntary organisations, or where the experience is part of a higher education course), the National Minimum Wage should be paid. From October 2011, the legal minimum hourly rate for adults is £6.08.

We advise that you work no longer than one month unpaid but if you do decide to negotiate additional work beyond this point, we would advise you to:

• Ask questions about the tasks you are likely to perform and consider whether these will develop the skills you need in order to get paid employment in the industry.
• Suggest areas where you would like to gain experience.
• Check whether you will have the opportunity to shadow/work alongside experienced members of staff or whether you will be based in a back office undertaking relatively routine tasks.
• Negotiate reasonable out of pocket expenses.
• Agree in advance your hours and the length of the placement. (Under the National Minimum Wage regulations a voluntary worker should have flexible hours and no set duties or targets.)

For further advice about your rights as an intern:

• Careers & Employability Service ‘Guidelines on Unpaid Work Experience’
• Pay and Work Rights Helpline - 0800 917 2368.
• Skillset Code of Practice for internships in the creative industries
• Rights for Interns
• Interns Anonymous
• Intern Aware
• Volunteer interns
• National Council for Work Experience
• AdviceNow
• Tax for Students

You may be keen to pick up freelance work before graduating to develop your portfolio. It is important that you establish a contract for each assignment that will guarantee you get paid for the work you do and that any intellectual property you create remains yours. Check out the advice for freelancers offered by: -

• Skillset
• Skillset’s Be a successful freelancer in 26 steps
• The Design Trust Business Start Up Guide

If you post samples of your work online, take steps to ensure that unscrupulous visitors to your web site are not given an easy opportunity to copy your work and pass it off as theirs! Good online galleries and showcasing sites should provide you with safe parameters within which to post up your work and will operate safeguards against extensive downloads. See:

• Intellectual Property Advice for the Creative Sector
• Design and Artists Copyright Society
• Intellectual Property Office
• Copyright Service

Although these can provide tremendous experience, any work placement abroad needs extra attention as employment law and local customs will be very different to the UK and access to support and advice abroad may be very difficult. See:

• MMU Careers & Employability Service
• Foreign & Commonwealth Office advice on Living and Working Abroad
• Prospects Advice on Gap Year Travel
• Gap Advice.org

In the first instance, try to resolve issues with your employer. If this fails, the Careers and Employability team will endeavour to refer you to further sources of advice but it is the responsibility of the individual to bring any legal action against an employing organisation.

The Citizens Advice Bureau also offers initial advice online.