Internship offer asks our son to pay a 'training fee' first. Is this common now?

lemon_sparrow_601420 Jun 2026

Our son, going into his third year, has an offer for a part-time remote internship with a small company that calls itself a product startup. It would run alongside his classes. The offer letter looks real enough. What concerns me is a line asking for a refundable 'training and onboarding fee' before he starts, payable to an individual's account. I work in security, so perhaps I am more suspicious than necessary. He points out that several classmates paid similar amounts and received certificates. For parents whose children have interned recently: is paying for an internship normal in some fields, or is this exactly what it looks like?

1 comment

quiet_sketch_844320 Jun 2026
Ayyo, no. At my company interns get a stipend, small, but the money goes to them, never the other way. A refundable fee to someone's personal account is the part that would worry me most. Ask them for a company account and a GST invoice and see how fast the offer changes 😊
- lemon_sparrow_601421 Jun 2026
  Thank you. I asked him this morning to request exactly that: a company account and a written refund policy. He was a little annoyed, but agreed that if they can't provide either, he will let it go. Whether his classmates' certificates were worth the money is a separate conversation.