Internships: Tapping into China’s next generation of talent

At the current juncture of China’s economic development, the mismatch between the supply of university graduates and contemporary organizations ’ staffing demands is becoming increasingly evident. Thus, student participation in internships and their use by organizations, as means to recruit and select graduate talent in China has undergone rapid expansion over the last three decades, to the point where today, as in many other national contexts, both interns and host organizations regard internships as a preferred pathway into entry-level professional positions. However, internships in China take place against a contextual backdrop which is generally regarded to be distinct from many other national contexts. Hence, this paper will situate the practice of internships relative to the Chinese context, and advocate the conceptualization internships, as a recruitment and selection tool capable of contributing towards addressing the contemporary staffing demands of organizations operating in China. (Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperativ