An internship offer letter tells a student or recent graduate that you’re offering them an internship, and spells out the dates, hours, supervisor, pay (or the lack of it) and what they’re there to learn. Small businesses, nonprofits and agencies use it for summer, semester and co-op placements. This free template works for paid and unpaid internships, with a checkbox for each.
Is an internship offer letter different from a job offer letter?
Yes, because an internship has an end date and a learning purpose built in, and the letter needs to say both. A regular offer letter assumes an open-ended job. An internship letter adds the start and end dates, the academic calendar, school credit if any, the learning goals, and (for unpaid placements) a clear statement that there’s no pay and no promise of a job afterward.
If the person will really be doing a regular job for a set period, don’t dress it up as an internship. Use the offer letter, or an employment contract if you want fuller terms.
Can your internship be unpaid?
Maybe, and this is the part to get right before you send anything. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act requires for-profit employers to pay their workers. Interns at for-profit companies are only outside that rule when the intern, rather than the business, is the “primary beneficiary” of the relationship.
The Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet #71 lists the seven factors courts use:
- Whether the intern and employer clearly understand there’s no expectation of compensation.
- Whether the training is similar to what the intern would get in an educational setting.
- Whether the internship is tied to the intern’s formal education through coursework or academic credit.
- Whether it fits around the intern’s academic commitments and calendar.
- Whether it lasts only as long as the intern is actually learning.
- Whether the intern’s work complements, rather than displaces, the work of paid employees.
- Whether both sides understand there’s no entitlement to a paid job at the end.
The DOL calls it a flexible test where no single factor decides the outcome. If the facts show the intern is really an employee, they’re entitled to minimum wage and overtime. The fact sheet also notes that unpaid internships are generally permissible at public sector and nonprofit charitable organizations where the intern volunteers without expecting pay.
Here’s a quick gut check. Say you run a six-person marketing studio and want an unpaid summer intern. If the plan is that the intern will run your client social accounts so your coordinator can take on more billable work, that’s displacement, and you should pay them. If the intern is shadowing, doing supervised practice projects tied to a university course, and the team spends real time teaching, you’re closer to the unpaid side. Many employers simply pay interns to avoid the question.
State law can add its own rules on top of the federal test, and some states are stricter. Check your state labor department before you choose the unpaid box.
What goes into this internship offer letter template?
The template is a letter from you to the intern, with a signed acceptance at the bottom. Here’s what each part does.
Position and dates. The internship title, department, start date and end date. A fixed end date matters, especially for unpaid placements, because the DOL factors look at whether the internship lasts only as long as it’s educational.
Schedule and location. Expected hours per week and where the intern works (on site, remote or hybrid). For students, say how the schedule works around classes and exams.
Supervisor and learning goals. A named supervisor and three or four concrete things the intern will learn or practice. Writing these down is useful for any internship. For an unpaid one, it’s evidence of the training focus.
Pay. Tick paid (hourly rate, pay schedule, overtime if hours go over 40) or unpaid (with the no-compensation and no-job-promise statements). The letter also covers any stipend, travel or equipment.
Academic credit. Whether the internship is for school credit, and a promise to complete the school’s paperwork on time.
Policies, confidentiality and conduct. A short confidentiality clause and a pointer to your handbook. If the intern signs your handbook, have them sign the employee handbook acknowledgement form too. For interns with access to sensitive client data, a separate NDA is worth considering.
Ending early, contingencies and acceptance. Either side can end the internship early with notice. Any conditions (proof of enrollment, work authorization, a background check) are listed, and the intern signs to accept by a deadline.
How do you fill it in and send it?
- Decide paid or unpaid first, using the DOL factors and your state’s rules. Don’t let the letter decide it for you.
- Fill in the dates, hours, supervisor and learning goals. Be specific: “build and test two landing pages under supervision” is better than “assist the marketing team.”
- Delete whichever pay option you didn’t choose, so the letter doesn’t contradict itself.
- If the internship is for school credit, check whether the school needs its own agreement signed as well.
- Send it for signature with a clear acceptance deadline.
Offer letters are ordinary contracts, and e-signing them is routine. The federal ESIGN Act says a signature or contract can’t be denied legal effect just because it’s electronic; see are electronic signatures legally binding. The new-hire paperwork a paid intern fills in afterward (tax and work-eligibility forms) follows its own rules, so handle that separately.
Download it, fill in the blanks, and send it for e-signature with any tool you like. (We’re building SignWren for this kind of thing; join the waitlist if you’d like early access.)
This template and guide are general information, not legal advice. For a specific internship program, talk to a lawyer licensed where you are.