5 Tips To Negotiate For Intern Pay

If you have entered the corporate world as an intern and are getting paid for it, you are in the lucky lot. But if not, you could always turn things around for yourself. You would be doing work similar to that of an entry-level employee and might think that you must at least be paid a fraction of that pay.

A stipend or an internship pay is a minimal amount of pay paid by an employer to an intern, student, or trainee, that covers their basic day to day expenses.

Employers’ Take On Interns

In this context, it is essential to understand the perspective of the employer. The person hiring you is taking a bet on you, they don’t know if you will be worth investing in, let alone being paid. They might be sceptical about the returns you would have to offer against the investment of training they would be putting in you.

You could prove to be instrumental in creating value or you could as an intern prove to be a liability for the company, but this is something that the employers won’t know until they hire you. From the perspective of a small business owner or start-up that is a huge risk. So the employer would ideally wish to save cost here and give the minimum internship pay as they can.

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At this point, the employer doesn’t know your actual worth and therefore, salary negotiation can be challenging.

What Can You Do?

It is always worth asking for internship pay. If you don’t ask, you will never get it. Is it worth asking for a stipend in your internship? The answer will be a definite yes. Here you have to go with the expectation that your request may or not be accepted by the employer.

If you are getting internship pay, keep the following things in mind:-

• Have the internship pay documented, on mail and in contract
• Make sure that the company defines the dates (first and last day of internship, wage day, etc.)
• Ensure that you have a bank account and provide the correct details to your employer

Also Read | Why and How To Document Your Internship

There are a few instances in which you can ask for an internship pay and also try for salary negotiation.

Create a Business Case

Demonstrate that you will create value to the employer and company.

Show Potential from Day 1

The company has started evaluating your worth from the minute you applied for the role. So, show your best game and prove that you are worth it. Once you have the hang of things at work, you can be at a better place to negotiate salary for the value you create. The ideal time here would be after three to four weeks of joining.

After Reaching the Milestone

Another way to look at asking for internship pay would be based on the performance. If you feel confident with how things have proceeded at work and you are now confident of your own skills, you could go up to the manager and say something like, “If I am able to accomplish this target, will you be willing to pay me?”

You may consider asking for a pay if you are confident about your work.

If you feel that your work on a particular deal, assignment or project will bring monetary gain to the organisation, there’s no harm in asking for a pay out of this.

You could say something like – “I feel comfortable with handling this project/assignment. If I achieve this target, will you be willing to monetise my achievement?" This would help in motivating me to perform better and bring additional value to them and company. I look forward to your reply.”

For a small business, they will be willing to take this deal as they have already invested time and money in you and can see the results. In most cases, they should be willing to compensate for it.

Other Offers

You could leverage other offers that you have received and ask for a better internship pay.

You can write a mail like this to negotiate salary:-

Thank you for your generous offer. The job, role and the organisational culture excite me more. I will be more than willing to join as I would love working for you. Will it be possible to match or get close to the offer I have in hand?

It will be a good idea to attach the offer letter, if asked.

Once you have the hang of things at work, you can be at a better place to negotiate salary for the value you create.

Broaden The Pie

Maybe the company is paying you a minimum wage and stipend. You are okay with the internship pay as you will be getting good exposure at work but this cost will not cover your day-to-day expenses.

In this case you could ask for a few more perks. These asks could sound like:-

"Hi, I see that the company offers meals and/or coupons to its employees. I am living away from home in another city, it’s hard to manage my daily expenses in terms of rent, housing and commuting. Will the company be willing to provide the meals to me as this would really help me and give me one less thing to worry about."

Similarly you could ask the same thing for housing-

"I see that the cost of housing and renting a place of accommodation is very high in Bombay, could you suggest an affordable housing option for me? "

The organisation can get you a better deal or help by placing you in company- owned accommodation.

These are all subtle ways to negotiate salary that could lessen your worries about day-to-day expenses while you focus on learning. A small internship pay right now could be a base for salary negotiation at your next internship gig.

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When Should You Not Ask?

It may not always a good idea to ask or negotiate salary when working in an internship, the below could be some of the instances:-

Social Work

If you are passionate about social work and providing for the community, you must be working for a NGO or non-profit. In this case, you should be ready to not get an internship pay for the work you do. However, you could try things like car-pooling and taking on a job that’s closest to your place to save on cost.

Guru- Shishya Relationship

If you have aced an internship or received a chance to work at the ideal in your industry, maybe then their investment in you is higher than any monetary aspect. If you are confident that their giving can up your career growth, asking for an internship pay may not be the ideal case. It’s also important here to understand the trend if other trainees in the past were paid or not.

Think Of The Longer Term

It is important to take a hard close look at your resume and your journey as a young professional. If you are somebody with less experience as of now, think more about how much money you will be able to make in the future with the skills you learn through this stint, than how much you will make during this stint. Think on these lines- “Will working for a startup right now take me ahead in my journey to join my dream MNC?”

Also Read | Work From Home Internships That Can Guarantee You A Job

As a student looking at internship options and as a new intern keep a check at the following points-

• What value am I offering to the company?
• What other alternatives do I have?

The key here is patience. You will have to prove your worth first to yourself and then to the organisation to be able to ask for an internship pay. They understand that it’s a bet they are taking on you. Your job is not just to do your daily tasks but also to prove that you are worth investing in as an intern.

Parisraja Bajpai is an Organisational Psychologist, with extensive hand-on experience in talent acquisition, talent management, employee counselling, employee engagement, training and development. She is currently heading HR department at Nexstgo. Views expressed in this article are of the author and do not represent those of the organisation they are associated to.