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Present-day Intern
Interns have a hard life nowadays. They are making less money than ever before. According to a research, interns are making less than they were in 2010. According to the study, college interns nowadays are earning an average of $18.06 per hour. This is less than college interns were making back in 2010. When adjusted for inflation, the average pay for an intern happens to become quite miserable in fact. Interns are making less than ever, and prices are increasing more than ever. College interns have just found themselves in quite a bad place financially.
However, there is one section of college interns that still happens to do decently well. That are the ones that happen to work in the Silicon Valley as tech interns. From 2011 to 2016, the pay for interns in the San Francisco valley has increased by 15% to roughly $39 per hour and a total of $6,250 per month. That actually happens to be more than double the increase for other college interns from any other field. All information currently points towards the Silicon Valley interns earning respectable sums of money as compared to average college interns.
The salary received by Silicon Valley interns is comparable to what the management students working with Wall Street's top banks receive. However, the downside to working in Silicon Valley happens to be that interns often end up working up to 80 hours per week. If their salary is compared to the amount of work they put in, it turns out to be quite a measly amount in the bigger picture. However, the fact that they still earn more than most other college interns makes the Silicon Valley a very productive and lucrative place to apply for if you happen to study technology or engineering.
The Industry in the Future
According to polls, more than half of all Americans view Wall Street positively now, even after their role in the financial crisis just a decade ago. And like many other industries, Wall Street is turning towards millennials as their primary recruitment group. They have been consistently developing recruitment policies that are geared towards millennials and have been targeting the demographics of the early 20s to mid-30s. One example of this happens to be the major accounting firm Deloitte. They have recently revised their recruitment policies to shift away from minorities, something they had been doing for a long time, to go towards millennials instead.
In the future, we might see a change in the salaries given to college interns. However, currently, the Silicon Valley is the one place where an intern can make do, even though it's the bare minimum. Other internship salaries can't help college students live an independent life. Therefore, currently, if you happen to be studying technology or are thinking of changing your major since you don't like your current one, the Silicon Valley beckons for you with good pay and opportunities.