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This is Part III in our series on internships. If you haven’t check out our earlier articles you should read these posts.

4 Reasons College Students Should Get An Internship
Large Versus Small Internships

Another question I hear often is do internships pay? If so how well do internships pay?

This is a more complicated question than yes or no. This depends on the industry and whether this is a structured internship or not. It also depends on whether this is a summer or long-term internship. I’ll address each separately.

Certain industries tend to pay while others do not. Anything in corporate finance, banking, trading, institutional sales, private equity, asset management, hedge funds, portfolio management all pay. Consulting firms pay. It’s also worth noting that finance and consulting interns tend to pay you the same amount per paycheck as a first year analyst. This can mean you are making 20-30 dollars an hour, which is likely 4 or 5 times more than you’ve ever made. Corporate America in general also pays. Any Fortune 500 will likely pay. Conoco Phillips, Wal-Mart, Proctor & Gamble, Merc, and Ebay just to name a few that likely pay, though not as well as banking or consulting.

There are also several industries that are notorious for not giving their interns a dime. Anything in entertainment: television (MTV to Nightline), journalism (Cosmo to NY Times), movies, and music rarely pay anything. Outside of the above mentioned areas, you will have to take each company of a case by case basis.

Is it worth it to take unpaid internships? This is difficult to answer. Ask yourself what is your end goal and what do you expect to gain. Also can you afford to not get paid? If working the unpaid internship will get you a job there next year do it. If your rich and don’t need the money then do it. If you think you will learn more than you ever could otherwise then take the opportunity. If you think you will make copies all summer and job opportunities are limited, then working for free might be a bad idea.

This is a very general overview on internship pay and only covers the basics. Each internship will be unique but this post is a very accurate representation of what to expect in each internship. If you have more specific questions please leave your feedback in the comments section. I would love to hear from you!