6 things about business internships jobs worth your time

You can tell a good business internship from a bad one before you accept it, and six checks do most of that work.

Pay status is the first filter. Unpaid internships cluster in nonprofits, politics and small firms; larger employers in finance, accounting and consulting usually pay.

What to take away

1. Whether it pays, and how much

An internship is a job, and the first question is whether it pays. Unpaid internships cluster in nonprofits, politics and very small firms. The White House Internship Program is unpaid, and participants cover their own housing. Paid ones dominate banking, public accounting, corporate finance and consulting.

At large investment banks, summer analysts in New York typically earn $40 to $55 an hour, which prorates to roughly $110,000 a year. The Goldman Sachs Summer Analyst Program and the JPMorgan Summer Analyst Program sit in that band.

Big Four internships at Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG typically land between $25 and $35 an hour in major US markets. Corporate internships at Amazon and similar employers typically pay $20 to $30 an hour, and some add a housing stipend.

Commission-only internships, such as the financial representative internship at Northwestern Mutual, pay nothing up front and depend on sales. For-profit employers must also meet six criteria from the US Department of Labor before they can label an internship unpaid.

For a benchmark, look at the full-time version of the work. The Occupational Outlook Handbook gives median pay by occupation, which tells you what the internship is a runway toward. The survey definitions page explains what those wage figures include, so you compare like with like.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers publishes an Internship and Co-op Report with median hourly pay for paid interns. It is the named survey cited for the $40 to $55 banking band and the $25 to $35 Big Four band above.

Those bands are typical employer ranges, and that NACE median sits closer to internship work than an occupational median does.

If you are weighing an unpaid offer against a paid one, price the unpaid term honestly: tuition if you take credit, plus living costs, minus any stipend. That number is what the experience costs you.

2. Whether it earns academic credit, and what that credit costs

Many programs require an internship for graduation. That requirement is separate from whether the internship pays.

Credit is not payment. Internship course fees typically run $200 to $600 per credit at four-year schools, so a three-credit course can add $600 to $1,800 to an unpaid term. Check your school's fee before you treat credit as compensation.

If the internship is required, confirm with your department which placements qualify. The rules live with your program, not with the employer.

3. What the work actually is

Job titles at this stage are unreliable. "Business development intern" can mean cold calling or market research. "Finance intern" can mean building models or reconciling spreadsheets.

Ask what a typical week looks like and what last summer's intern produced. A program that can name a deliverable, a rotation or a team has thought about the role. One that cannot is often using interns for overflow work.

Some titles are specific. Amazon's Area Manager Intern runs a warehouse team, and Disney College Program roles sit in park operations and hospitality. Those names tell you more than "summer intern."

This is also where classification matters. What an employer calls the role shapes what you can look up about pay and progression later. The certifications and classification guide covers how titles map to occupational categories.

4. Whether it converts to a full-time offer

The return offer is the point of most business internships. A summer at a bank or an accounting firm is a ten-week interview for a graduate role. Banks and Big Four firms fill much of their entry-level analyst class from the previous intern group.

Employers who track the figure will tell you. Employers who will not may not track it, which is itself an answer. As an illustrative figure, a bank that hosts 100 summer analysts and makes 60 return offers converts at 60 percent, and a strong year can reach 80 percent.

Conversion rates vary by firm and by year, so treat any single figure as that firm's, not the industry's.

5. Who runs it and how big it is

A structured program with a named cohort, a mentor and scheduled reviews is a different experience from being the only intern in a small office. Both can be good, and they teach different things.

Large programs give you a peer group, a known brand on your resume and a clearer path to a return offer. Goldman Sachs runs its Summer Analyst Program as one large New York cohort. Google's BOLD internship and Microsoft's Explore program serve specific student groups and early college years.

Small ones give you more contact with senior people and broader work. Decide which you want before you apply, because the applications look nothing alike.

The federal Pathways Internship Program posts paid internships on USAJOBS and pays on the General Schedule, typically $15 to $20 an hour in most markets. Disney College Program housing is paid through deductions from participants' paychecks. Both publish their rules.

For how these early roles feed into later pay, the salaries and advancement guide tracks the progression.

6. The terms in the offer

Internship offers are short, but read them. Look for the pay rate and whether it is hourly or a stipend, the dates, whether housing or relocation is covered, and whether the offer is at-will.

At-will means either side can end it, which is standard and not a red flag. What matters is what you are promised: a set number of weeks, a set rate, and whether the return offer is discretionary.

Housing stipends are common at large banks and consulting firms in expensive cities and rare in nonprofit and government internships. The Disney College Program instead deducts housing from weekly pay.

If a term is unclear, ask before you sign. For anything you would need a lawyer to interpret, consult a qualified employment lawyer rather than the posting.

Comparing a paid and an unpaid offer

Two offers, same summer, same city. One pays $22 an hour for ten weeks at 40 hours, no housing. The other is unpaid, for credit, and your school charges $400 per credit for a three-credit internship course.

The paid offer is ahead by $10,000 before you count living costs, which you pay in both cases. That gap is the price of the unpaid experience, and it is worth asking whether the experience closes it.

Where to start

Pick the three internships you would actually take. For each, find the pay, the credit terms, the conversion rate and the offer terms. Most of that is in the posting or one email to the hiring manager.

Named programs are the fastest place to start, because Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Amazon and the Big Four all publish deadlines for the following summer.

Then run the search itself with a method, which the job search guide covers. The business internships overview has the broader picture.

The six checks, in one list:

Common questions

Are unpaid business internships worth it?

Sometimes, if the experience is required for graduation or opens a specific door. Price the term first: tuition, living costs and lost pay. If the number is larger than the value of the door, it is not worth it.

Do internships lead to full-time jobs?

At large finance, accounting and consulting firms, a return offer is a common outcome. Treat any number you are given as that firm's, not the industry's.

How much should a business internship pay?

There is no single rate. Banking and consulting internships pay more than general corporate roles, and cities differ. Use the full-time median for the occupation from the Bureau of Labor Statistics as a benchmark, then compare the offers you actually have.

What should I check before accepting?

Pay rate and whether it is hourly or a stipend, dates, housing or relocation coverage, and whether the offer is at-will. If a term needs legal interpretation, ask a qualified employment lawyer.