May 9, 2012

Google, Microsoft rated best places to intern

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By Tiffany Hsu / Los Angeles Times
Google Inc., with its free meals, high monthly pay and relaxed work environment, was rated by interns as the best place to work in a report released just ahead of the peak summer internship season.

A software engineering intern at the search engine giant can expect an average monthly pay of $6,463, according to career website Glassdoor. Google interns, who voted the company as the most satisfying place to work, also reported additional perks such as face time with managers and opportunities to sit in on meetings.

Microsoft Corp., where research interns earn $6,746 each month, was second. The rest of the 10 best-rated internships includes spots at Qualcomm Inc., MTV Networks, State Farm Insurance, Intel Corp., General Electric Co., Procter & Gamble Co., Johnson & Johnson and Cisco Systems Inc.

Also in the top 20: Seattle-area companies Nordstrom (13) and Amazon.com (20).

The Glassdoor report includes commentary from interns working at nearly 3,300 companies over the last three years.

Employers are expected to boost their internship hiring by nearly 9 percent this summer but are paying interns less, according to a report last month from the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Undergraduate interns will get $14.21 an hour -- down 2.8 percent from last year, with freshmen getting $13.91 an hour and seniors earning $17.57.

But more than 80 percent of companies plan to offer added benefits. Nearly 60 percent of firms will help interns with relocation costs.

Intern-seeking businesses generally reserve 1 percent of their recruiting budgets to online networking, instead preferring to find candidates at career fairs and on-campus information and recruiting sessions, according to the report.

In the aftermath of the recession, many laid-off workers are competing with students for internship positions, which can often lead to jobs. The study found that employers are turning nearly 59 percent of interns into full-time hires -- a record.

A study last year by the Heldrich Center found that students who had internship experience earned a median salary that was $6,680 higher than their non-intern peers.

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