An internship carrying a stated monthly stipend — the default format for anything where you expect real work and real output.
Not a paid trial for a permanent role, and not an unpaid internship with a token "certificate and experience" framing.
The argument for paying interns is usually made on ethics, which is correct but rarely persuades a budget holder. The operational argument is stronger: paid internships fill faster, from a wider pool, with lower drop-out, and they convert better — which means the cost per useful outcome is lower even though the cash cost is higher.
The pool argument is the one that decides it. An unpaid internship selects for candidates who can afford to work for free, which is a filter nobody would defend if it were written into the job description in those words.
When this is the right hire
Compared with an unpaid or certificate-only internship:
you expect the intern to produce work you will use. Which is almost always — and the moment output is expected, the case for paying is both practical and difficult to argue against.
genuinely never, for commercial work. The narrow exceptions are academic-credit placements structured entirely around the student's learning, and even there a stipend widens your pool at low cost.
How to do it well
- 1Set the stipend from a band, not a negotiation
Role, city, duration, work mode and company size. Published bands are what stop two interns doing the same work on different money.
- 2State the number in the listing
"As per company norms" reads as "low", and the strongest applicants filter it out before you ever see them.
- 3Budget the whole cost, not the stipend
Stipend is typically 40–60% of what an intern actually costs once mentor hours, equipment and screening time are counted.
- 4Pay on a stated date
Late stipends are the most common complaint interns raise publicly, and they cost far more in reputation than the amount involved.
- 5Do not make the stipend performance-contingent
A conditional stipend is read as a trap by anyone who has seen one, and it filters out candidates with other options.
What to pay
The stipend that fills fastest sits in the upper-middle of the local band for the role — roughly the 60th to 75th percentile of what comparable listings pay. Below the band floor, roles typically take two to three times longer to fill and lose more interns mid-internship, which costs more than the saving. Above the band, extra money buys very little: at that point what wins candidates is the work itself, a named mentor and a credible conversion path.
How to assess
- Nothing about assessment changes because the internship is paid — but the applicant pool does, and it gets larger and more varied.
- A wider pool means your screening has to actually discriminate. A structured process matters more, not less, once you have volume.
- Expect more candidates from tier-2 and tier-3 cities, and more from non-elite institutions. That is the pool widening working as intended.
What goes wrong
Read as a trap by anyone who has seen one before, and it filters out precisely the candidates who have options.
The role takes two to three times longer to fill and loses more interns midway. The saving is smaller than the cost.
You both waste a call, and the candidate concludes the number is bad — which, if it were good, you would have stated.
The most common public complaint about internships in India, and the cheapest one to never have.
Questions employers ask
Are unpaid internships legal in India?+
There is no central statute banning them outright and they still exist, particularly in NGOs, media and academic-credit placements. The practical position matters more: if the intern does work you would otherwise pay for, an unpaid arrangement invites classification risk and narrows your pool to candidates who can afford to work for free.
How much should I pay an intern?+
It depends on role, city, duration, work mode and company size — there is no single number. The stipend calculator on this site produces a band for your exact combination, and the roles that fill fastest sit in the upper-middle of it.
Do paid internships really get better candidates?+
They get a larger and more varied pool, which is what lets your process select rather than accept. The clearest effect is on candidates who cannot afford unpaid work — a group that includes a large share of strong candidates from outside the metros.
Can the stipend depend on performance?+
You can structure it that way, and it will cost you candidates. Conditional stipends are read as a trap, and the candidates most likely to walk away from one are the candidates with other options. Pay the stipend; handle performance through the review process.
Where can I post a paid internship for free?+
Posting is free on MyInternships.in — including paid internships. It takes about a minute and reaches students across India the same day.
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