12 Internships That Pay More Than $5,400 a Month
While many interns work for next to nothing and wait tables at night to get by, others rake in high salaries and enjoy awesome perks while they build great connections and experience. How do you find those lucrative opportunities?
Here are some of the best-paying internships available. Some of these gigs reportedly pay more than $5,400 per month, according to Glassdoor’s survey report — equivalent to $64,000 per year or more!
It’s not a surprise that many of these jobs are in the tech industry, and most are located near Silicon Valley. Most of these companies hire interns at different points throughout the year, either as traditional summer internships or fall or winter “co-op” arrangements.
If you’re looking for a high-paying gig for an upcoming semester, check out opportunities with these companies:
1. Apple
Apple interns earn up to $6,700 per month ($38 per hour or more), Business Insider recently reported.
And that’s on top of the housing stipend ($1,000 per month) or free company housing, which you’d share with other interns. Plus, if you’re moving to the Bay Area to take the gig, you’ll receive up to $3,300 for relocation expenses, including plane tickets and shipping your stuff.
Apple is hiring for a number of internships, mostly based in Santa Clara Valley, California. But don’t expect to learn too many details about what you’d be working on; the company is well-known for its secrecy, and sometimes employees don’t know anything about a project beyond their specific role.
2. Palantir
Palantir interns earn $42 an hour working on software for high-profile clients, including the FBI and CIA, according to Glassdoor. This works out to about $7,000 per month, which would be $84,000 per year if they work year-round.
The company also finds housing for interns and provides bikes to borrow. Palantir hires both summer and winter interns.
3. VMware
Interns for VMware can earn just under $7,000 per month, reports Glassdoor.
If you want to get out of Silicon Valley, this could be a good opportunity. VMware has internship opportunities all around the globe, from a Technical System Engineer Intern position in the U.K., to a Financial Analyst Internship in Costa Rica, to a number of positions in Palo Alto, California.
4. Twitter
Twitter is hiring software engineering interns in Boston and San Francisco. If you’re a tech-minded social media maven, consider applying for one of these sweet gigs, which reportedly pay up to $6,800 per month, according to Glassdoor.
Plus, you’ll get to check out all of these sweet perks for yourself.
5. LinkedIn
If you know code inside and out, consider applying for one of LinkedIn’s software engineering internships in Boston and San Francisco. These jobs pay $6,200 a month, says Glassdoor.
6. Facebook
Spend 12 weeks working for Facebook and be at the cutting edge of social media technology, earning up to $6,200 a month, according to Glassdoor’s survey.
The company offers these three-month internships in a variety of fields at their Menlo Park headquarters, including design, technical program management for hardware, security, network engineering and more.
If you’re interested in global business, consider the global sales internship in Hamburg, Germany.
7. Microsoft
Microsoft is hiring a development engineering intern, but they often have other internships available in Redmond, Washington; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Vancouver, British Columbia.
These positions reportedly pay up to $6,100 per month, according to Glassdoor, and Microsoft recommends working with a recruiter to find out more.
8. eBay
Online auction house eBay pays interns up to $6,100 a month, according to Glassdoor.
They’re not hiring at the moment, but check their internship page in a few weeks. They should have more opportunities once the new school year starts.
9. Google
Opportunities at Google range from technical internships to those in product management and other fields. Many of these gigs pay up to $6,000 a month, reports Glassdoor.
Follow these steps to apply and be prepared to interview on Google Hangouts. The internship website even offers some advice, saying, “A couple of protips: get used to coding on a whiteboard, in Google Docs, and be comfortable talking about coding over the phone.”
10. Amazon
Amazon needs a few qualified students to fill its internship slots. The company wants undergraduates from both technical and non-technical fields, as well as MBA and Ph.D. grads.
Interns can earn up to $5,600 in these positions, notes Glassdoor, and the company even offers opportunities in Spain.
11. Nvidia
If you have rock-solid technical skills, consider applying for an internship with Nvidia.
Opportunities include both hardware and software internships, including computer architecture engineer, mixed signal design engineer, system software engineer and more. These positions pay up to $5,400 per month, says Glassdoor.
12. Wall Street
Everyone’s heard that Wall Street is a lucrative place to make a living, but how do interns cash in? Quite well, according to a recent Business Insider article.
Wall Street intern salaries are tied to the salaries of analysts and vary each year. Business Insider reports that for years, the average salary was $70,000, but last year analyst pay went up to $85,000 per year at many firms, including Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank.
Summer interns often earn $1,600 per week, and an average program is 10 weeks long, so you could earn $16,000 for a summer’s worth of work.
Of course, they’re putting in serious hours; one intern featured in the article worked 79 hours one week and 73 the next. But that’s still a lot better than the hourly wage you’d get flipping burgers.
Your Turn: Would you consider working for one of these companies? Know of any other high-paying internships we should add to our list?
Kristen Pope is a freelance writer and editor in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
