By Bryn Dunbar

Any college student will tell you that getting an internship is a competitive process. Landing a paid internship can be next to impossible. Despite these difficulties, internships that pay up to over $6,000 a month do exist. Many of them are specialized, so start early to find the one that’s right for you.

Energy and Oil Companies
Oil companies may get a lot of bad press, but they also offer some of the highest paying internships in the country. Forbes reports that the average monthly base pay for interns at Exxon Mobil is $6,506. GlassDoor.com features more information about how much each type of intern at the company earns. You can find out more details and submit your resume at Exxon Mobil’s career site. They will most likely be interested in geological science majors, engineering majors, those majoring in other science fields and business majors. BP America, a similar company usually pays its interns $23 to $26 an hour. You can visit their internship page to find out more.

Internet Companies
Many of our favorite social networking sites and search engines also offer internships. You can turn all of the time you waste on Facebook into a summer job that pays an average of $6,197 a month. The site seems to favor computer science and engineering majors. Their internship page has lots of useful information and links presented in typical Facebook format.

In addition to Facebook, many of our other beloved procrastination tools offer opportunities to make bank. Google, our go to search engine, pays interns an average of $5,910 per month and Amazon, everyone’s favorite site for online shopping, pays an average of $5,397 per month. Try searching student opportunities on Google if you are interested in becoming part of their ever expanding empire.  Or go to Amazon’s site to see the different positions the company offers to see if one is right for you.

Financial Companies
Despite the financial world’s recent woes, students who intern for many of these companies are usually well compensated. JP Morgan reportedly pays $12,385 per internship. Their website features details about the internships it offers for juniors, sophomores and freshmen. You should be good with numbers. A background in business or finance is not required, but you need to be ready to explain why you’re qualified for the position.

Another option is Goldman Sachs whose interns usually earn about $29 per hour. This company will consider applicants of all academic backgrounds, so if you’re interested it’s worth applying. You can read more about their application process on the Goldman Sachs career website.

If you weren’t satisfied with your internship or job this summer or the prospect of working for free isn’t appealing, you can use these suggestions as a starting point. You might not earn this kind of salary next summer, but at least you’ll have put some thought into your next internship.

Image Source