How to word this? Internship: Yes, pay would be delightful, but I'll work some or all for free if I have to

[katilac]

dd needs an internship for her French and International Trade major, and it must incorporate French. That is difficult to do both stateside and abroad, particularly because she wants business experience more so than teaching experience. A lot of the Francophone countries have dismal employment rates right now and get backlash for bringing in paid or unpaid outsiders. She also spent five weeks studying abroad last summer, and internships would require almost every bit of the coming summer. 

She has a local lead that fits these requirements. She spoke to the relevant person, who basically said, Please email me in one month. I would  love to hire you for the summer, but I don't know exactly what we need yet. And basically made it clear that they can and do pay for summer positions sometimes. 

That would be awesome, but it is more important that dd get the internship knocked out as opposed to getting paid (because she could get paid lots of places, but needs the bloody internship). So how does she convey that without knocking out any chance of getting paid, lol? Does she mention it in the first email, or only if the director comes back and says they have no funds for summer hiring? She would also definitely be open to so many hours paid, so many hours not. 

This is a non-profit that teaches French classes and promotes all things French in various ways, and it's a great fit for dd. She can teach or assist in classes, she can do office work, she can do marketing and promotions, she can work and help plan special events. It's very small, so I think they would love having a versatile person for summer. 

It would truly be ideal for her, so please give me your best wording and any other advice you might have! Don't restrict yourself to my questions, I am open to any and all suggestions. The most important thing is to get the internship. Not getting paid locally will cost her less than flying and living abroad for a paid internship anyway. 

 

[Matryoshka]

Hm, do they have some kind of university-level internship or coop type programs in France where she could apply directly to the companies that interest her?  

Dd20 just applied for a bunch of those in Germany, and immediately got interviews from most, and then quickly a few offers. She translated and reformatted her resume to German standards.  One of the questions one of them asked was if this was a coop/internship was required by her school or optional.  Apparently if it's required as part of her degree, then they don't have to pay, but if it isn't required, they do have to pay.  The pay is still a lot less than what she was earning at the US-based coop she just finished, but will be enough for her to live frugally.  I encouraged her that it was worth earning less for the experience.

She found all the postings herself on the internet - there was someplace she searched for "Praktikum" jobs, which is what they are called in Germany. Might there be something similar in France?  Dd is reasonably fluent in German, but she is actually a computer science major.  But I think they have those kinds of positions for all sorts of careers - Germany (and I think Europe generally) has a strong tradition of work experience along with specialized education in most careers.

Edited December 28, 2018 by Matryoshka

[J-rap]

Perhaps she could say something like  "I'm looking for a part-time job or internship over the summer," which of course implies the possibility of being paid but also doesn't rule out working for nothing. 

I believe that France law requires all internships to be paid, although it is minimal.  (At the most it would probably just cover her airfare over there and back!)

[katilac]

17 hours ago, Matryoshka said:

Hm, do they have some kind of university-level internship or coop type programs in France where she could apply directly to the companies that interest her?  

 

We haven't had much luck finding companies she can apply directly to, even though dh does have some connections there. We're hearing that some programs are on hold and have been for a while. Their overall unemployment rate is nearly triple that of Germany, and their youth unemployment rate is over 20% with Germany at just over 6%. Plus getting an internship there will cost her, even if it's a paid one. She really should have studied German, because even the flights from here to there are half the cost of getting to France! 

Honestly, though, we would rather her not commit to being abroad this summer. There's a lot going on there and a lot likely to be going on in the summer, plus we think it would be good for her emotionally to be home most of the summer (particularly as she was in France for five weeks last summer). The US travel advisory still has them at Level 2, exercise increased caution due to terrorism, but other countries are advising a high level of caution and France's own terrorism scale is at 3, the highest level. I know that things can happen anywhere, but if she can get a state-side internship that incorporates French and business, I'll be a happy mama. 

The local job would be a very good fit, and let her start connecting with the local business community - her university is seven hours away, but she'd like to wind up here eventually. It's a great city for international business, but none of the established internships seem to specify French involvement as required. 

Either way, I definitely want her to apply to this and other backups, as she does not have a guaranteed internship anywhere yet! 

10 hours ago, J-rap said:

Perhaps she could say something like  "I'm looking for a part-time job or internship over the summer," which of course implies the possibility of being paid but also doesn't rule out working for nothing. 

I believe that France law requires all internships to be paid, although it is minimal.  (At the most it would probably just cover her airfare over there and back!)

 

Yeah, may be best to keep it simple! 

[Arch at Home]

I believe that I would follow the simple route with regards to wording. I hope that your local lead comes through for her. France sounds iffy as a plan B but what about a Canadian company?

[8filltheheart]

Did she contact Airbus in Mobile? They brought in mostly French and Germans to run the company.

[katilac]

7 hours ago, Arch at Home said:

I believe that I would follow the simple route with regards to wording. I hope that your local lead comes through for her. France sounds iffy as a plan B but what about a Canadian company?

 

She is in touch with a few Canadian companies. The best leads so far are not in French-speaking areas, of course, lol, but she is working on it. I'm trying to tell her that her school is likely to accept anything in Canada with the mildest French flavor, but she's dubious. 

7 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

Did she contact Airbus in Mobile? They brought in mostly French and Germans to run the company.

 

Interesting, thank you! She will definitely look into that. Mobile is less than 3 hours away from us. My dh's company is not related to Airbus but is headquartered in Germany, maybe that will help, lol. 

[Bootsie]

What are the specific requirements that she has for the internship?  Does it require a particular number of hours?  Does it require any interaction between the firm hosting the intern and the university (filling out particular review forms, etc.)  If so, I would suggest that she carefully spell out what her requirements are and what the firm would need to do for this to be a qualifying internship.  I would ignore any mention of pay (unless it is brought up).  The organization probably has a policy regarding whether interns are paid or not.  

[katilac]

16 hours ago, Bootsie said:

What are the specific requirements that she has for the internship?  Does it require a particular number of hours?  Does it require any interaction between the firm hosting the intern and the university (filling out particular review forms, etc.)  If so, I would suggest that she carefully spell out what her requirements are and what the firm would need to do for this to be a qualifying internship.  I would ignore any mention of pay (unless it is brought up).  The organization probably has a policy regarding whether interns are paid or not.  

 

Yes, she does know all the requirements and she can pass them on.This place, and a few others she is working on, don't have an internship program and thus no intern policy, but are non-profits and can accept volunteers. Luckily, they don't have to do much on the company end other than fill out the forms that dd can provide. She's going to bring up the details later in the process - we have found that companies without a formal program are much more receptive when you use the words job and work as opposed to intern. They just automatically think we don't have internships because they aren't aware that the student can set it up as opposed to them. 

My poor oldest guinea pig, we're going to know so much more for youngest!

[Arcadia]

 

42 minutes ago, katilac said:

Yes, she does know all the requirements and she can pass them on.This place, and a few others she is working on, don't have an internship program and thus no intern policy, but are non-profits and can accept volunteers. 

... we have found that companies without a formal program are much more receptive when you use the words job and work as opposed to intern. They just automatically think we don't have internships because they aren't aware that the student can set it up as opposed to them. 

 

My kids German school is a non-profit. Putting that she knows the organization is a non-profit and her pay is negotiable is fine. Let them tell her how much they can afford to pay her.

My husband’s department has interns. They have to provide at least one mentor and learning experience for the intern. Similar to an apprenticeship. Job and work doesn’t carry that heavy a mentoring/teaching burden on the company. My husband and I did internships as engineering undergraduates as it is compulsory at the university we attended. I have a dedicated mentor since the department I was in takes only an intern every year while he had a mentor overseeing a few interns. When I temp at the company after my internship, I was left alone to do the work since they knew I could do the job assigned to me with zero supervision.