Summer internships are often competitive, stressful and less than lucrative. But in the rarefied realm of the most superior of internships, there’s free meals, social mixers and plenty of pay to be had.
To hear interns tell it, working at Google is tops. A software engineering intern there lands an average of $6,463 a month, according to career site Glassdoor. Google interns reported getting good time in with higher-ups and opportunities to sit in on meetings; their experiences were the most satisfying compared to interns at other companies.
The report includes commentary from interns working at nearly 3,300 companies over the last three years.
Next best: Microsoft, where research interns earn $6,746 each month. The rest of the 10 best-rated internships includes spots at Qualcomm, MTV Networks, State Farm, Intel, GE, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson and Cisco.
Employers are expected to boost their internship hiring by nearly 9% this summer but are paying interns less, according to a report last month from the National Assn. of Colleges and Employers.
Undergraduate interns will get $14.21 an hour – down 2.8% from last year, with freshmen getting $13.91 an hour and seniors earning $17.57. Engineering majors have the highest rate: $20.79 an hour, nearly as much as general masters degree level interns, who earn $21.93 an hour (a 9.4% decline).
