20 minutes – What does a "senior trainee" really do?

Wanted: "Senior Intern in Social Media and Content Marketing". This job offer has recently been published by Swissmilk, the umbrella organization of Swiss milk producers.

Saw something? Send it to us via Whatsapp!

You now need to save this number in your contact list because you can now send photos and videos to the 20 minute editor via WhatsApp.

Is the graduate internship an innovative work format? 20 minutes have been requested from Swissmilk. With the designation, we want to signal to the candidates that a completed apprenticeship or a bachelor's degree is expected, indicates a speaker of the organization.

But he admits: "In reality, it is simply a normal stage in which the interested parties already have some basis."

"Senior" has more to say

The term "senior" in a job title comes from English-speaking countries and generally refers to positions that are hierarchically superior to the same positions without the addition of the title. The term has nothing to do with the age of the employee.

In the specific case, this means: A high-ranking trainee is the one who has more to say than the other trainees. But there are currently no other trainees in the marketing department of Swissmilk.

"Even higher demands"

Michel Ganouchi, Human Resources expert at Recruma, finds the "Swissmilk ad" absurd. "The employer imposes even higher requirements on a trainee than usual, but will likely pay much less than for a permanent position .

Companies have almost no obligation during an internship. Other criticism: "It is not clear in the ad if we pay more here than with an internship ".

"Not chosen so happy"

The exact amount of wage developments has not yet been determined, said the Swissmilk spokesman. In addition, the final amount is negotiable.

Swissmilk has meanwhile decided to delete "Senior" in the job offer. A few hours after asking 20 minutes for the organization, she changed the ad on her own website. Swissmilk spokesman said last Friday they had decided to abandon the title. He had not been so happy. On Jobs.ch, to see the old ad a little longer, Swissmilk then changed it.

Permanent job instead of internship

The staff expert Ganouchi would go even further and turn the internship into a permanent position: "Social media is a strategic communication tool and is not part of an internship."

In Switzerland, it has long been customary to advertise a permanent job as a trainee, says Unia Youth Secretary Kathrin Ziltener for 20 minutes. "This is nothing but a form of wage dumping," said Ziltener. And the learning effect in trainees is often too short.