Unpaid Internship: An internship with no stipend. Some offer a certificate, training or experience instead of pay.
Example
A small startup offers a 2-month unpaid internship with a certificate at the end.
Why Unpaid Internship matters for IT interns
An unpaid internship can still teach you something if the work is real. Be very careful with anyone who asks you to pay them for an "internship".
Where you will hear it
You will come across this term while searching for internships, reading offers, and talking to recruiters or your college placement cell. If someone uses it and you are not sure what they mean in your project, it is completely fine to ask; every team uses terms a little differently.
Related terms
- Paid Internship: An internship where you receive a monthly stipend for your work.
- Pre-Placement Offer (PPO): A full-time job offer given to an intern before regular campus placements, usually because they did well…
- Probation: A trial period after joining as a regular employee, when the company reviews your performance before…
- Selection Process: The steps a company uses to choose candidates, such as an online test, coding round, technical interview and…
- Stipend: The fixed monthly amount paid to an intern.
- Work Experience: Time spent doing real work in an organisation.
Previous term: Unit Testing | Next term: User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
Related guides
- IT Internship Guide for Students in India
- How to Apply for an IT Internship
- Internship Offer Letter: What to Check
Frequently asked questions
What is Unpaid Internship?
An internship with no stipend. Some offer a certificate, training or experience instead of pay.
What is an example of Unpaid Internship?
A small startup offers a 2-month unpaid internship with a certificate at the end.
Why does Unpaid Internship matter for IT interns?
An unpaid internship can still teach you something if the work is real. Be very careful with anyone who asks you to pay them for an "internship".
Explore more internship terms
The IT Internship Glossary explains 199 terms you will hear before and during your internship, with simple definitions and real examples.
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About the author
Dhaivat has 16+ years of experience in the IT industry, working on AI and cloud technologies, project delivery, and engineering leadership. He has interviewed and mentored many interns, wrote The Lost Intern, and runs the non-commercial Career Impact Initiative, mentoring students for free.