asking for compensation from an internship?

[Mydish1]

Generally if i were on my own terms with this internship i would ask for compensation such for as lunch/transportation.

 

But this time im not. my situation is as goes:

 

The department chair of my major hooked me up with an internship with this company and im going in for an interview tomorrow. The reason for this is because it's required for me to do in order to graduate so im getting a headstart this summer.

 

I was thinking perhaps asking during hte interview or if i do get accepted ill bring it up a couples weeks into the internship. i was also considering asking the department chair if i have the right to ask for one from the employer...but i dont see a point to that as she doesnt oversee compensation.

 

oh yea..did i mention i'll be interning 900 hours ? which is part of the requirement.

 

any thoughts when or if i should bring this up?

[quankanne]

treat it as a regular job interview when you meet with the interviewer – ask about job responsibilities and requirements, what to do in the event of illness, lunch breaks, reimbursement or mileage paid for trips or out-of-pocket payments made for unexpected purchases as requested by superiors, comp time if you've got to work after regular office hours or weekends, stuff like that. There's no such thing as a dumb question, and it's better to ask more than you need to so that you have a good idea of what's expected of you and what recompense you'll receive.

 

best of luck on the interview!

[Mydish1]

thanks for the headsup...unfortunately somoene else got the position instead of me.

 

i dont really know what happened. The boss of the company and 2 senior designers in his firm reviewed my portfolio/interviewed me in the conference room. the boss was this old guy who was mainly asked the questions.

 

i felt the interview went good, all of us even started talking about sports shortly after he brought up my sport hobbies listed on the resume. then an hour later he called me up giving me the rejection speech an hour after the interview.

 

altho what really bugged me is that everything adds up to the fact that it seems he already had gotten someone for the position before i had even called for an interview. some parts of the interview, they didnt even seem serious about it really. As if they were there for the sake of putting on a show with no intention of hiring me.

 

thanks again my hopes are still up for finding another internship elsewhere

[Trimmer]

The department chair of my major hooked me up with an internship with this company and im going in for an interview tomorrow.

 

This sticks out to me - it might either have been something where some old contact owed your dept. chair a favor, or she twisted an arm or something like that... So they gave you an interview as a courtesy to her, but it may well have already been a done deal before you went in.

 

Don't take it too hard. While on one hand,it may have been a waste of time in one sense, you got some good, real-life experience at interviewing, right down to the small-talk. Apart from the issue of maybe being already decided, think about what you did well (it sounds like most of it...), where you could improve, and how you can "tune up" your skills for next time.

 

Also, even though you know the position is filled, I suggest you "follow through" the interview process and write a few pleasant and professional thank you notes to the prominent folks who you dealt with. It can only enhance your image in their eyes, and if this company is indeed in your area of study or on a possible career path, then you're keeping the door open - a very professional and mature thing to do. Who knows, maybe if your paths cross again later, they'll be inclined to "owe you one" for having put you through this exercise now, and they'll remember how gracefully you handled it.

 

Use every contact to build your network.