Chicago Business Has 'Hunger Games'-Themed Search For Unpaid Interns

By Jon Graef in News on Jun 8, 2014 6:00PM

Photo via The Hunger Games move website

Despite the good economic news of recent days, it's still worth noting the market for finding a job or paid internship remains quite competitive. But despite any advantages employers may have, it's probably not a good idea for businesses looking for qualified candidates to evoke a coercive fight to the death in a dystopian hellscape just as a tool for motivation. [Especially when the people you're looking for will be unpaid interns.]

And yet, it's apparently come to this:

In this age of digital commerce, young folks preparing to enter the workforce must display ninja-type skills in producing viral videos, attracting social media scrums and communicating to customers, clients and anyone who will listen on Instagram, among other things.

There's probably no better example of this than Emmis Digital's recent search for interns that pitted applicants against each other in a "Hunger Games"-themed social media contest for the honor of working for no pay.

More than 25 college kids applied for the one internship available at the River North office. The top 10 candidates were invited in for interviews, and the field was whittled down to three finalists.

Emmis Digital's Rory Foster and Katlyn Hayes created a contest, the "Intern Games," to determine the finest free summer laborer in the land.

"At a digital company, innovation is key. We're looking for candidates with a wide variety of skills, and we wound up with three really qualified people on paper," Foster said. "We thought that it would be fun to pit them against each other, test their mettle and see who was the hungriest."

To put it another way: Let them eat TPS reports.

[h/t DNAInfo Chicago]