In many countries going through difficult economic times, job openings for new graduates can be few and far between. In this competitive environment, relevant work experience can help job seekers stand out from the crowd, and many organisations now offer temporary placements, called internships. The problem with numerous internships, however, is that they are unpaid, and this often puts young people off applying for them. Employers and interns sometimes come to mutually beneficial arrangements, however. Dinesh Pathan, applying for an internship with an IT company, negotiated a deal in which he would be given travel expenses only for two weeks, and then, as long as he could show his marketing work was adding value, he would be paid a wage. The arrangement worked well: Dinesh had an incentive to work hard, and he ended up feeling 'not so much an intern as a temporary staffer'. HR consultant Denise Baker says similar arrangements are common. What is more, 'if interns do well, employers would often rather make them full employees than recruit people whom they don't know'.