On average, employers will pay interns an hourly wage of $17.13 — 5% higher than last year — according to a recent survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Interestingly, however, the survey also reported employers will be offering about 21% fewer internships this year than in 2008.

Here’s the average hourly pay broken down by the intern’s field of study:

• Business — $15.93
• Communications — $16.00
• Sciences — $16.60
• Computer Sciences — $17.20
• Engineering — $18.26

Of course, those are national numbers. When benchmarking your own intern compensation, you’ll need to take a look at regional data, too.

When hiring summer help, how do companies know whether they’re getting a true intern or an employee who must be paid at least minimum wage?

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) never uses the term “intern.” However, it does distinguish between employee and a trainee. Many interns qualify as trainees, and therefore aren’t covered by the FLSA.

But not all of them qualify. The Department of Labor uses a six-factor test to determine who can legally be considered a trainee. All of the following criteria must be met, according to the DOL:

• The training is similar to what would be offered in a vocational school
• The primary benefit of the program is for the trainees
• The trainees don’t displace regular employees
• The employer gets no “immediate advantage” from the trainees’ activities
• The trainees aren’t guaranteed a permanent job at the end of the program, and
• They understand beforehand they aren’t entitled to wages.

Simply put, if the interns benefit from the arrangement, they can legally be considered volunteers rather than paid employees. To keep compliant, the focus of an internship program should be on mentoring and exposing interns to real-life experience, rather than on getting them to produce a certain amount of work.

Read more from the DOL here.

More and more mid-career adults are taking on internships, according to a recent New York Times article.

Why? Mostly, it’s the economy. People are looking for ways to boost their skills and resumes to make themselves more marketable to potential employers.

Other employees cited learning experience as a benefit and accepted internships to help them change careers.

Companies benefit by getting affordable work from experienced professionals.

What do you think? Would your organization hire interns who are in the middle of their careers? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

From the candidate’s perspective, here are the eight worst habits they’ve seen, according to a survey by Development Dimensions International:

1. Acting like he or she she has no time to talk (70%)
2. Withholding information about the position (57%)
3. Treating the interview like a cross-examination (51%)
4. Showing up late (48%)
5. Appearing unprepared for the interview (47%)
6. Asking questions unrelated to the job (43%)
7. Asking questions that are too personal (38%)
8. Talking about him or herself instead of the candidate’s qualifications (33%)

The bad news for interviewers guilty of those transitions: Two-thirds of candidates said the interviewer’s behavior has a big impact on whether they accept a job offer.

Even more reason to train managers on how to give off a good impression.