Intern salary as a Data scientist

Hello all,

I have an internship in a fairly well situated start up in Berlin with investments of around 10 million euros.

I did research on the intern salaries and the minimum wage in Germany, and I'm aware that in order to have the minimum wage the internship needs to be voluntary and longer than 3 months.

Having this info in mind, how much money should I ask for, when they give this question in the interview? What is the number from your experience for Data Scientists doing Machine learning?

Here is a good link (in German) about doing internships in Germany.
https://www.absolventa.de/karriereguide … -praktikum

But you would need to ask specialists in this particular field about average pay. It depends so much on one's skills, education and experience.

But the whole idea of internships is questionable. If one is really learning and getting their foot in the door at a potentially good employer then an internship might come in question. But more often than not it is simply a way for a company to under-pay people. So I don't know why anyone would do this unless they are just starting out? Some companies might hire on a test basis where they can let them go after a period if they don't work out. But they should still be getting paid properly.

Internships are not normally paid at market rates - after all, the idea is not for the company to benefit, but you to learn and get valuable first work experience. That's also why internships and traineeships are exempted from the minimum wage rules.
If you get a pocket money of a few hundred Euros per months, count yourself lucky and accept!

beppi wrote:

Internships are not normally paid at market rates - after all, the idea is not for the company to benefit, but you to learn and get valuable first work experience. That's also why internships and traineeships are exempted from the minimum wage rules.
If you get a pocket money of a few hundred Euros per months, count yourself lucky and accept!


This is why one needs to answer what their education and expereince level is. An internship can be a way to get into a field when one is new but makes litte sense for someone who has already been working in a field. Why work for next to nothing to learn something you already know?

TominStuttgart wrote:
beppi wrote:

Internships are not normally paid at market rates - after all, the idea is not for the company to benefit, but you to learn and get valuable first work experience. That's also why internships and traineeships are exempted from the minimum wage rules.
If you get a pocket money of a few hundred Euros per months, count yourself lucky and accept!


This is why one needs to answer what their education and expereince level is. An internship can be a way to get into a field when one is new but makes litte sense for someone who has already been working in a field. Why work for next to nothing to learn something you already know?


I second this. If the OP is still studying or training in the field, then an internship can be helpful. But if they're looking for a foot in the door after uni, there are plenty of entry-level positions available in Berlin in that field that pay proper salaries.

(PS it's not my field, but it's my husband's).