New Delhi (Paid Internships)For college students and recently graduated youth, internship is the first step into the world of career, This is not only a medium to gain experience, but also an opportunity to earn some stipend along with learning, The salary of an intern is called stipend, This is not a fixed amount, The salary of an intern can be anything from Rs 0 to Rs 1 lakh per month, This huge difference depends on the size of the company, industry, duration of the internship and the skill set of the intern,
Internship Stipend: How is the salary of an intern decided?
Interns in fields like humanities or media have lower stipends. Apart from this, the nature of the internship also matters. If you are doing a full-time and long-term (6 months to 1 year) internship, the stipend is likely to be higher. At the same time, if you are doing any result-oriented work (like coding or data analysis) then you can also get a performance-based bonus.
Internship stipend limit as per industry
1. Technology and Engineering
Stipend Range: ₹30,000 to ₹80,000+ per month.
Why more: FAANG companies (Meta, Amazon, Google, etc.) and major IT companies offer high stipends, especially for software development (SDET) and data science internships.
2. Finance and Consulting
Stipend Range: ₹25,000 to ₹1,00,000+ per month.
Why more: In investment banking, private equity and top consulting firms (like MBB), interns have to work a lot. That’s why they give high stipend.
3. Digital Marketing and Content
Stipend Range: ₹5,000 to ₹25,000 per month.
Why less: Due to the high supply in this sector, the stipend is relatively low. However, in big companies it can go up to ₹40,000.
4. Human Resources (HR) and Operations
Stipend Range: ₹10,000 to ₹30,000 per month.
Why Medium: These are organizational support roles with salaries in the mid-range.
Is it okay to do an internship without salary?
Whether it is right to do an internship without salary or not depends entirely on your career goals and the quality of the internship.
An unpaid internship is considered appropriate when:
- Experience should be valuable: You are getting to learn expertise or skills that are vital to your career and cannot be found anywhere else.
- Networking: You are getting a chance to connect and work with top professionals of the industry.
- Portfolio: May you get an opportunity to do a big project or work that will instantly improve your resume.
However, keep in mind that some companies use ‘unpaid internships’ only for cheap labor. If in internship you are given only coffee making or repetitive administrative tasks then it is a waste of your time. Keep in mind, experience and networks can be more valuable than money, provided the internship is focused on your learning. If you are not financially capable then always choose salaried internship.
