Ask HN: Asking for a raise while on Internship? Or should I find another one?

2 pointsby Robbbb14 anni fa7 comments

Hello HN,

Im curious for some input on how to approach this situation I’m in. Here’s the break down:

- I finished a single year at a financial institution in a full time dev/sys-analyst position, and have been contacted to come back for the summer. While at my job I was making ~17$ an hour. Im currently back at school finishing off my CS degree.

- Nearing the end of my internship, I discovered that the new intern was making 8$ more an hour than me, despite not negotiating his salary and having the exact same credentials as me. Only thing was different was that he was from out of town and was a little older than me.

- I was offered part time work throughout the school year, and accepted. When I brought up the idea of re-writing my contract because my old one was expired, my manager said “it wouldn’t be necessary”.

This money situation and the fact that the internship itself was very poorly structured has left a poor taste in my mouth. My manager rarely cared about what I was doing and my team hardly had time / the will to review the solutions I proposed. As a result, I almost always was working alone and never got any feedback to how well (or poorly) I was doing. I’m grateful that I have this working experience under my belt, but I just don’t appreciate how the next guy was offered a lot more than me.

If you were in my shoes, what would you do?

4 comments

ablerman14 anni fa

Don't use that pay information openly during negotiation, at some companies that sort of thing is grounds for dismissal. ( I'm assuming that you're in the US, other cultures might treat it differently. )

More to the point though, it sounds like you don't enjoy the internship that much anyway. I'd suggest you look for a different internship on the side. You can always stay where you are if nothing else works out.

_uoi814 anni fa

I think it also depends on how much you value the work experience vs. the money at this point. I interned with a small company where I got paid just enough to pay my bills, but eventually that work experience helped me find an awesome full-time job.

Robbbb14 anni fa

Don't get me wrong, I do value the experience and I'm very happy that I had the opportunity to do an internship. But just the fact that the next guy is getting so much more for no reason is very disheartening and making me feel undervalued.

_uoi814 anni fa

I'm not sure if I have a complete understanding of your situation, but you mentioned the other guy isn't local. Perhaps the extra $8 going towards that guy's incremental expenses because he doesn't have a regular place to live, cook etc. like you do? As far as issue related to pay inequity goes, it's a bitter truth that you'll find it almost everywhere (at some level or the other). It's not a big surprise why HR folks ask you to keep your pay confidential. :) I think sometimes it's not a question of what others are getting, but it's more of am I getting what was was mutually agreed upon? If you think you deserve more, better have a strong justification for it rather than just saying my peers are getting more that I am. You always have the option of finding another different job if you don't like it.

mcarrano14 anni fa

It looks like you didn't enjoy the internship. Is more money the solution?

There are plenty of opportunities out there, I would first start by applying to: http://www.university.firstround.com

Robbbb14 anni fa

Money would surely make it more bearable for those few summers months.

And damn, http://www.university.firstround.com looks great. Unfortunately I'm not American so I'm pretty sure i'm at a disadvantage. But I'll look further into it! Thanks

wwarneck14 anni fa

A great deal of people leave companies (or positions) because of the relationship they have with their manager. If you're not in a position where you can comfortably discuss your salary with your direct manager, find a better opportunity.