Unpaid internship offer: what to check in the letter before you join

First, the one rule with no exceptions

Never pay to do an internship. Requests dressed up as a "registration fee", "training kit charge", "security deposit" or "certificate fee" are a well-known pattern of fraud aimed at students. The AICTE's National Internship Portal says on its own homepage that it is free for students and that anyone charging a fee to apply is running a scam. An unpaid internship means they don't pay you. It never means you pay them.

Read the letter clause by clause

Here is a fictional unpaid internship letter with notes on what each part should tell you. Compare your own letter against it.

**1. Position:** Data Analytics Intern, Operations team.

A named team is good. "Intern" with no team, or "Business Development Intern" for what was advertised as analytics, is a warning: you may be doing unpaid sales calls.

**2. Duration:** 8 weeks, 1 June 2027 to 26 July 2027. Remote, 20 hours per week, Monday to Friday.

Exact dates and hours protect you. "Flexible, as required" can mean 50-hour weeks. Check the hours against your college's rules if it's during term.

**3. Supervisor:** [Name], Operations Analyst, who will assign tasks and review your work weekly.

This is the most valuable line in an unpaid letter. A named person who reviews your work is the main thing you're getting in return. If no one is named, ask who it will be before you accept.

**4. Work:** Cleaning the weekly delivery dataset, building a turnaround-time summary in Excel or SQL, and presenting findings to the team in week 8.

Specific tasks mean you can predict your resume line. "Supporting various projects" does not.

**5. Confidentiality:** You will not share company data or documents outside the organisation.

Normal and reasonable. But check whether anything lets you describe your work.

**6. Portfolio use:** You may describe your role and methods, and share a version of your analysis rebuilt on synthetic data, after review by your supervisor.

Many letters don't include this, and it's worth asking for. Without it, you may be unable to show anything you did.

**7. Stipend:** This internship is unpaid. Pre-approved expenses for any required travel will be reimbursed.

Unpaid is stated honestly. Reimbursement of required expenses is a fair ask for any in-person days.

**8. On completion:** A certificate stating your role, dates and the work completed, and a reference from your supervisor on request.

Get this in writing. A certificate with only "participated in our internship programme" is worth much less than one that names the work.

**9. Signed by:** Name, designation, company letterhead with address and contact email on the company's own domain.

Look up the company. A real registered address, a website with its own domain and people you can find elsewhere are basic checks. A letter from a free email address with no traceable company deserves more questions.

Questions to send before accepting

If your letter is missing items, send a short, polite email. Most genuine organisations answer quickly.

Subject: Internship offer, a few questions before I confirm Dear [Supervisor's name], Thank you for the internship offer. Before I confirm, could you help me with a few details? 1. Who will supervise my work, and how often will we review it? 2. What will my main tasks be in the first two weeks? 3. Could the letter state the weekly hours and exact dates? 4. After the internship, may I describe my work and share a version rebuilt on synthetic data, after your review? 5. Will the completion certificate list the work done? My college also needs [a NOC / permission letter] with the internship details. I'll share it once I have the confirmed dates. Thank you, [Name], [Course, Year], [College]

A reply that answers point by point is a good sign. A reply that pressures you to confirm today without answering is not.

Is it worth it without pay?

Decide with these questions, honestly answered:

If the internship is unpaid, the learning and the evidence are the pay. An internship where you'd mostly do tasks a paid employee would normally do, with no one reviewing your work, is not a fair trade however it's labelled.

Red flags that mean walk away

• Any request for money, for any reason.
• No written letter, only a WhatsApp message.
• Pressure to accept within hours.
• Tasks that are mainly selling a product to your own friends and family.
• A certificate promised before you've done any work.
• Asking for your bank details, Aadhaar or PAN beyond what's needed for a genuine onboarding step, before any letter is issued.

Once you've accepted, sort out your college's paperwork; the NOC and internship certificate checklist lists what each document should say. For how an unpaid role fits into your wider plan, see internships during college.

If you'd rather build the same kind of portfolio evidence with a reviewer you know will look at it, the Data Analyst programme builds project review into its 3–4 months, live online with optional labs at our Noida centre; ask a counsellor for current fees.