What kind of hourly rate should someone expect to get paid as an engineering intern? I know that it probably varies greatly, but I am looking for a ballpark figure. Thanks

12/21/2005 12:35:19 AM

I wouldn't want less than $13/hour personally.

12/21/2005 12:48:19 AM

first summer 13
second summer 20

12/21/2005 1:20:09 AM

what kinda engineering?

depends on how much other work experience you have. First internship prolly between 12 and 15. After that, maybe 15-20. Occasionally you will come across some internships or co-op's that pay a little over 20, but most don't. Some places also offer other benefits like vacation, insurance, 401K, or discounts. But those are generally co-op's.

12/21/2005 2:02:32 AM

20 ugrad, 30 grad student

12/21/2005 2:43:13 AM

How many credit hours have you completed?
How many credit hours for the field you are in?
Previous related work experience? Previous directly-related work experience?

Again, it really depends. Anything less than 10 is an insult. Anything more than 20 and they are probably paying you too much. Everything inbetween depends on the person and the company.

12/21/2005 6:00:51 AM

Depends highly on experience. I am currently doing my second rotation of a co-op and am making a little under 14/hr. My first rotation (Spring 05) I started out at 10 and change/hr, but got a raise to about 12.50/hr after the first two weeks. If I do a third rotation next summer, I will get a raise to about 15/hr. I had no work experience in an engineering work environment prior to this.

[Edited on December 21, 2005 at 7:21 AM. Reason : ]

12/21/2005 7:20:55 AM

Quote :

"Determining the salary Intern salaries typically range from $8.00 to 18.00 per hour, though in some fields internships may be unpaid. According to NACE (the National Association of Colleges and Employers), the average hourly rate is $15.44*, similar to co-op. The rate you choose will reflect your industry average as well as the profile of the individual student. Many employers use the following formula as a guide. • Rising sophomore or junior: 75% of 1st year salary • Rising senior: 85% of 1st year salary "

http://www.ncsu.edu/career/employers/internshipprogram.htm

12/21/2005 9:48:38 AM

Also depends which field of engineering you are in, the size of the company, geographic location, etc

In the Career Center, we most often see ranges of:
rising sophomore 8-10
rising junior 10-14
rising senior 12-18.

The NACE survey info pasted above is another great resource.

12/21/2005 12:08:31 PM

He is talking about INTERN pay not Co-Op Pay. Intern pay is much less than Co-Op, some of you are quoting Co-Op pay.

12/21/2005 1:13:30 PM

when i had a mechanical engineering internship for 2 summers at the same company:

1st summer (between soph and junior): $10/hour with no overtime
2nd summer (between junior and senior): $11/hour with no overtime

it is very hard for bosses to justify overtime when ur only an intern.

12/21/2005 1:26:37 PM

My friend did one summer at a major computer company and then another at a lesser known software company. He got $28.75/hr the first summer and $22.00/hr at the sencond company. He got overtime at both places.

12/21/2005 1:58:56 PM

Thanks for the replies. I got the information I needed. I wanted to make sure I could afford to live over the summer if I was working as an intern. Thanks again.

12/21/2005 3:00:23 PM

^If you are living in an apartment by yourself, half of your paycheck will probably go to rent.

12/21/2005 3:05:59 PM

if you're an engineer, you sure as hell aien't gona starve over the summer. And make sure to not mention pay at an inapropriate time in the interview. you'll live. really.

I got $14.5/hr at the one i did. Had like $4000 at the end of the summer. engineering internships are very nice.

12/21/2005 3:36:23 PM

a few larger engineering companies will pay for your living expenses over the summer months while you intern for them

[Edited on December 21, 2005 at 4:10 PM. Reason : .]

12/21/2005 4:10:38 PM

^^Yeah that is a good point as to when to ask. If they don't mention it during the interview, they will usually ask you if you have any questions for them. After your initial questions about the job/company, you can ask them about pay/benefits.

12/21/2005 5:35:35 PM

rising junior EE with internship with a power company....$13.50/hr

12/21/2005 6:27:52 PM

ibm ranges 18.75-23 i think for co-ops - most are allowed overtime

12/21/2005 7:55:56 PM

Quote :

"^^Yeah that is a good point as to when to ask. If they don't mention it during the interview, they will usually ask you if you have any questions for them. After your initial questions about the job/company, you can ask them about pay/benefits."

In most interview ediquite materials they'll talk about when to ask about pay. I don't remember what that point was, but my rule of thumb is don't ask. My experience is that they'll put that out front very soon, and whatever it is, you're probably not going to be choosing between them based on pay. anyway, if you need to ask, there was probably some communication problem.

And in terms of overtime, it's nice if you can get it, but there's also a good chance you'll be just like a sallaried employee. Meaning even if you work overtime you probably won't get it unless you make a big fuss. You basicly start out the week agreeing to work x hours, and honestly work as close to that as you can.

12/21/2005 9:06:02 PM

Quote :

"And in terms of overtime, it's nice if you can get it, but there's also a good chance you'll be just like a sallaried employee. Meaning even if you work overtime you probably won't get it unless you make a big fuss. You basicly start out the week agreeing to work x hours, and honestly work as close to that as you can."

Yup, that is what I got the past two summers. They say you are a sallaried employee and pay you for 40 hrs a week. If you have a good boss you can work things out so you can take time off when ever you want for staying late or comming in early some days.

12/21/2005 11:15:25 PM

Just as an aside:

I'd HIGHLY, HIGHLY encourage you to do a co-op rather than an internship. First, you'll get paid more. You really don't need a better reason. But if you do, co-op employers keep your name in their head if you impress them. You've got a much better shot landing a fulltime position through a co-op. Additionally, NCSU's co-op connections kick serious ass. They have connections with TONS of great companies.

12/22/2005 1:58:39 AM

I got overtime every week for 1.5 terms of my coop, but then all the coops were getting overtime so they stopped it. My boss would still give it to me though, he wouldnt care to much. I have worked almost 80 hours in 1 week and got 40 hours of OT.

12/22/2005 8:11:00 AM

^^ I have avoided the idea of a co-op because I don't want to take a whole fall or spring semester off from school. Those semeseters are worth too many credits for me to miss. I really didn't want to take a summer to do an internship, but I think it will be better than not doing anything at all as far as internships and co-ops are concerned. To each his own, and I think the internship is the way I want to go.

12/22/2005 9:35:16 AM

^concurance. Co-op has worked out for some people i know, but it's not the best thing since sliced bread, and not everone should do it. I looked seriously at it, it came down to this:

1. I didn't want to spend another year. With an entire YEAR I could study abroad or even go a 5 year program to get a graduate degree.
2. Co-op might have good connections in some diciplines, but when i went there, I failed to see anything special. They had like 3 companies wanting my major, and those were the ones who just put every major down. The office and orginization also left a bit to be desired, IMHO.

There are a lot of people co-op is really not gona work out for, and you shouldn't do it because everyone pushes it so much or because it gets so much recognition. Doing some internship is the important thing, and I know lots of people who worked each summer of their college carrer and were in with the company. If you have something like that, there's no reason to mess with the co-op office, pay their fees, and do all the other crap just so that you can work with a company that you have to find yourself.

12/22/2005 10:41:08 AM

I got 18.27 an hour as an intern, this past summer (right before my last year as an undergrad).

Comp Sci working on German minor, and getting a Masters.

Hoping i can get that much next time i work.

12/22/2005 10:46:03 AM

You guys aren't looking at it right. First off, what makes you think that working 40 hours a week means you can't take classes? I worked a summer rotation and took 12 hours worth of online credits (Distance Ed. rocks). I worked a Spring rotation and took 6 hours and should've taken more.

Plus, you can find companies NOT looking for three rotations. My company actually had me work a Spring + Summer in a row, and then I was done. I cleared 18 hours during that time, so I didn't fall behind at all. It's a good deal.

12/22/2005 2:13:57 PM

co-op told me that you have to have 3 rotations to be co-op. That never made complete sense to me, and maybe it wasn't true. But, you know, that's what they kept telling me.

12/22/2005 3:18:10 PM

they recomend you do 3 but I know people who've only done 1

12/22/2005 3:24:10 PM

^^
They recommend 3 ... you fill out whatever paperwork they want to make them happy and talk to your company. Your company will tell you when you should and shouldn't work. If you work a summer + either fall/spring rather, 8 months into it and they want to work another rotation to finish out a project or whatever, do it. Also, the experience is all that matters, nobody cares about the certificate or whatever they issue. I will say though, when filling out applications, there was a distinct difference between filling out 0/less than 1 year of experience and 1-3/1-5/etc. years of experience.

Southpaw had a really good suggestion, take distance education courses while you are cooping/interning. 40hrs a week is nothing ... you probably spend more than that while you are in a normal semester anyways. It all depends on the individual courses you take and your learning style, but I was able to do 2 HSS courses per rotation without much time out of my scheule (another 5-10 hours a week ... maybe).

Bakc to topic: A perfect legitimate question (after the initital phone interview) during an on-site interview is "What have previous candidates with similar qualifications made in this position"?

[Edited on December 22, 2005 at 6:23 PM. Reason : .]

12/22/2005 6:21:35 PM

Well, as a rising sophomore I made $9.40 an hour working with the NC DOT in a summer engineering internship. This is with NO previous job experience, no references.

They did pay overtime (although I never claimed it because, with a little fudging, I managed to make those hours go away and to get a little time off work in the meantime), but the job was the sort of thing where you went out at the same time, and came back at the same time each day... Lots of travel. No benefits either, btw, although you might be able to get into SECU or something.

12/23/2005 10:12:14 PM

I was paid $12.00/hour Freshman year working for a biotech company in RTP. This was with excellent referrals and working flexible weekends.

12/29/2005 3:23:54 PM

Mechanical Engineering
Summer 1: 16.55/hr
Summer 2: 13.50/hr

First one was manufacturing, second was aerospace, go figure

12/29/2005 9:26:50 PM

more like you arent areospace so howd you bag that?

12/29/2005 10:35:38 PM

^maybe if you talked to me other than when you get suspended...

and its just the aerospace industry (boeing). And i bagged it b/c it was open to any engineering/comp sci/math/physics.... major, and the interviewer was an alum

1/3/2006 11:32:58 PM

if it's open to a wider range of majors, it's probably gona pay less. as a very general rule.

1/4/2006 1:05:53 AM