And that they haven’t learned anything during the internship that would make them more useful the following year…
1 Like
Nah, 10 weeks of internship is not going to teach them a lot of skills. The most I get out of it is to see if they are trainable and have aptitude to learn, and a good fit for the organization.
1 Like
Great deal at $2,500/month! Fairly recently, or what decade?
2 Likes
This was all so helpful.
Simply put, she’s been working steadily since 15. Knocking out 8 to 12-hour days since her late high school years has been her calling card. Company awards, company paying a portion of her tuition, $40-45K FT manager positions offered as a freshman, Fun state school a few states away, lively social life, has standing offer from company where she interned this past summer - did the prestigious internship this summer, low pay, received job offer upon graduation. Wants to try something different in a field adjacent to her work experience.
She just got off another internship interview with large company offering $20. We were just curious about compensation bands and everyone is so knowledgeable here. The first company was introduced to her on Monday, interview Tuesday, offer Wed. morning. Highly doubt that they’re going to pull the offer if she asks for $3/hr more. They’re pursuing her, not the other way around. She sees herself as more a free agent than a prospect.
If they pull, she has other offers plus another 3-4 months to find something similar. She wondered about just accepting the order and waiting to see what else was out there but felt funny to make, then break, a commitment. We’ll see how it goes.
At my kids’ school (they went to the same school), the career center required any employer who leveraged their resources (recruit on campus or post jobs on their website) could not require a commitment from students until a certain date. They were also not allowed to wine and dine prospects off campus until another date. At the same time, if a student should renege on a offer then he/she would not be allowed to use their career center any more. They tried to protect their students as well employers.
4 Likes
I really appreciate it when the career center works out “rules” that make it work for everyone. While it’s the way of the world now, I really feel it’s unfortunate that there’s a path throughout college to a job afterwards that leaves little room for exploration and that so much energy has to go into the job search process over the years. It is what it is, so de-stressung the process is a great move.
Given the job market - good in some places but strained in another - it’s hard to know. And even if you accept today then there’s been instances where economic factors cause recinsion.
I agree asking for more would unlikely cause an offer to be pulled. It would be just answered with a no.
Sometimes it depends who you are asking - if it’s the boss, they might say she’s a gamer or what nerve she has and not like it. And then was it worth it?
If it’s hr, it won’t matter. They won’t be evaluating her. They’ll just say this is what we pay.
I go back to - if the job is right then it’s great. Most internships seem to be 12 weeks. Some 10. That she got 7k sign on is , extrapolated over hours, a lot more money.
I said it b4 but it’s like ED. She can take it now and be done. Or she can say no and keep going.
She can also ask for more time - maybe they’ll grant a week. But will there be anything better by then ?
But I think the money isn’t relevant. $120 a week more x 12 weeks is a pittance in life. Most important is the job duties. Where will she get real opportunity vs sitting around doing nothing. It’s often hard to tell up front.
Also who might provide a great reference. Few jobs check them anymore but my daughters fall internship asked for three and checked two. I was surprised. She didn’t love the summer job but they gave her a great referral.
These are things you can’t necessarily know now. But if she has a gut feel.
If she’s a risk taker, she can pass. Or she can just be done. It’s a choice.
3 Likes
My work experience is limited to high tech. One issue in high tech is that on the job you learn a lot about details of the company’s product, which in most cases is very complicated. It takes time and effort to learn this. This means that employees get more valuable over time. If the employee is going to leave after three months, then they take that knowledge away with them.
And yes, this is an argument against consultants (which I have seen very little of, with the exception being employees who retire and continue to consult to the same company where they had worked for years).
However, as far as I can recall every employer that I have worked with has pretty much considered internships to be a little bit of “help the industry by helping to train smart people” and quite a lot of “a two or three month job interview”. In my experience it has been very common for companies to hire former interns as soon as they graduate university (generally with a better salary than they had as an intern).
Exactly. While my experience is in high tech, a nurse manager who I know well has said the same thing.
2 Likes
3 years ago, which is recent enough and I looked out of curiosity last summer and found similar rates.
1 Like
Agree.
In some cases that I have seen, interns are given smaller somewhat more standalone projects that are useful, but do not require a big learning curve on the product.
S worked on billable projects during his junior year (consulting) internship the same as he did a year later as a full time employee. His billing rate was a bit lower, reflecting his lower pay rate (and expected learning curve), but after the first week of training he was expected to bill 40 hours every week (more was fine but he didn’t get paid overtime) and treated the same as any other new employee.
It absolutely depends on the industry, as well as the company. I almost fell over when a woman who hires summer law interns for a top law firm me how much they were paid … but I also know that many law interns who work at other firms earn far less. I realize that a law internship is different than an undergraduate internship, but the concept is the same. Different companies pay different amounts.
There is a very large company near me that hires tons of interns. Pay is $14-20 per hour. Its competitor pays $25 an hour. Students from many degree programs are eligible for the internships, but there are no engineering positions.
1 Like
OP: Are the first three words (“my oldest sibling”) of the original post in this thread correct ?
Difficult question to answer without more specifics about type of job & industry as well as location of the internship.
Assuming that the internship is located in a city with reasonable costs of living (Columbus, Charlotte, Indianapolis) and, as noted below, is in sales which does not require an engineering or architecture degree, the compensation seems fine.
3 Likes
@Publisher Ha, yeah, that’s a brain cramp. Oldest child.
1 Like
Digested all your advice. DD heard very positive reviews from others going/went through the program about the company and the area. She will most likely accept the internship offer this week without a counter.
Thanks for all your insights and perspectives.
10 Likes
Congratulations! Nice to have that behind her so early in the year!
4 Likes
I didn’t realize she was considering a counter. I think most businesses that have an internship program (which I assume this one does because they have dorm arrangements with a local college and they had a set ‘sign on’ amount) don’t negotiate the offer - everyone gets the same deal. Someone could get a day or two off for and event (grandma birthday, wedding) but salaries are usually set.
3 Likes
Yes, she has multiple offers for summer work but she wanted to make sure that she was maximizing her options. She doesn’t see it as “locking in” a summer internship; she sees it as buying out her eligibility for other possible opportunities that could come along over the next few months. After I received advice/guidance from everyone here and her conversations with friends and more classmates who have interned with the company, she decided to accept without pushing the envelope.
3 Likes
I mean, she got a $7K signing bonus…that’s HUGE
2 Likes
My daughter was just offered $32 an hour with a large company, Manhattan or NJ, has a week to accept (she’d choose Manhattan, her cousin from OOS will be staying with us and her internship is actually in the same building, small world).
4 Likes