Paid
With the stipend amount or range stated in the listing. Interns performing productive billable client work should normally be paid — that is the default expectation, not a perk.
Policy · Thrive Launchpad
The internship policy: compensation and fairness, in writing.
Internships exist to develop people — not to extract free labour or sell certificates. This policy binds every Thrive Launchpad opening, and every listing must comply with it before publication.
Compensation transparency
Every listing states exactly one of these.
Unpaid training placement
Only with the exact learning structure published, and never with a misleading employment promise attached.
University-credit placement
Run subject to the university’s approval and requirements, stated in the listing.
Sponsored placement
Funded by a partner, with the sponsorship acknowledged in the listing.
Protections
What unpaid or training participants are protected from.
- They do not replace employees or cover staff roles
- They carry no unsupervised production responsibility
- They are never represented to clients as experienced staff
- Their hours match the published commitment — no silent scope creep
- Their work is mentored and reviewed weekly, per the published rhythm
- Sensitive client data stays outside their scope unless explicitly agreed and supervised
- Conduct concerns are handled through a stated route with restricted-access records
Fairness
Selection and evaluation rules.
Selection
- A published eight-stage process applied identically to every applicant
- Skills gates matched to the track, not to connections
- Offers in writing: status, stipend (if paid), duration, location, hours, mentor
- A signed conduct, confidentiality and IP agreement before day one
- Selection is never conditional on purchasing training
Evaluation & outcomes
- A ten-dimension rubric, shared with the intern from onboarding
- A recorded baseline, midpoint review and final assessment
- Outcomes recorded honestly — including "no progression, with feedback"
- Certificates and references reflect assessed reality
- Talent-pool entry requires the intern’s consent
Why this policy is public
So applicants can hold us to it, parents can trust it, employers can rely on the assessments behind the talent pool, and any listing that violates it can be reported and corrected. If you encounter a Thrive opening that does not state its compensation status, report it — it should not exist.
Thrive Launchpad
Comfortable with these rules? Join a track list.
Openings arrive with the full terms this policy requires — before you apply.