Internship
An internship is a temporary placement intended to give someone practical experience of a job, profession or industry.
Internships can sit within an education course or be advertised separately. Look for a defined learning purpose, supervision and work you will be able to describe afterwards. A useful offer explains the tasks, hours, duration and pay. An internship may help you assess a career, but an employer's mention of future opportunities is not a commitment to hire you permanently.
Pay rights depend on the country and the actual arrangement. In the United States, the Department of Labor uses a flexible primary-beneficiary test when assessing whether interns at for-profit employers are employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The internship label or an agreement to work unpaid does not settle the issue. Elsewhere, check the local rules and any education-provider agreement before deciding whether an unpaid placement is acceptable.
Example
A student considering a ten-week research internship asks who will supervise the project, what training is included and whether expenses are reimbursed.
What to check
- Get the pay and hours in writing.
- Identify the supervisor and learning objectives.
- Check local employment rules for the placement.