Ambitious college students recognize the value of having one or more internships on their resumes. But should that line of their resume be an internship with your enterprise?
At first glance it may sound enticing to get an extra hand for the summer or a short period of time, help out a student from your alma mater and/or possibly train a future employee. But bringing a college intern on board isn’t for every employer. After all, an internship is a training program that should result in a meaningful learning experience, with the intern carefully monitored.
Before you say “yes” to incorporating an intern into your program, here are five items that can help you enter the experience fully prepared.
• Define why you need an intern — If you’re seeking free labor or a go-fer, then nix the idea of hiring an intern. On the other hand, if you have a certain project that has been on your “to-do” list but hasn’t been done, then an intern might be the perfect person to jumpstart—and even complete—such a project.
Additional reasons for bringing an intern onboard are to support current employees who have too much on their plate, obtain fresh ideas and different perspectives and vet a potential employee. You can scope out a potential new hire in an interview that lasts months rather than minutes.
• Pinpoint qualifications — Once you identify why you need an intern, then you know what skills, talents, academic background and experience are needed. But keep in mind that all interns are not alike and trying to make an intern fit into your general box is a mistake.
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Fifth-generation rancher Jaclyn Wilson, Wilson Ranch, a cow-calf operation near Lakeside, NE, has used interns for more than 30 years, and urges enterprises to “be open to all who approach you about an internship.”
“As long as they are passionate about the industry and want to learn, they will likely be a good intern,” Wilson states. “Their background doesn’t matter. Some of our more successful interns have been those who have never worked on a ranch. Our job is to help them along the way and help them learn and identify where they excel.”
Wilson gives preference to individuals who reach out to her regarding an internship because “they are doing the legwork to get involved.” She also advises before you hire a certain individual, you research their social media account to check for red flags that might be a concern. After all, your brand is at stake.
• Write a plan — To get the most from having an intern—and the intern to get the most from the experience—you should write a clear job description and plan ways he/she can add value to your enterprise. Your plan should include projects that will be assigned, available resources, and weekly or monthly goals that you’d like your intern to complete. Be prepared to communicate your goals and measurable outcomes to the intern during an orientation and plan on conducting progress checks throughout the internship. Your intern deserves direct feedback along the way.
Interns want actual experience where they can apply their knowledge, skills and talents. Their experience should include increased responsibility where they can take ownership of a task, help meet a deadline and know that they are a valuable member of a team.
To prevent any internal friction, it is a good idea to introduce and convey the role of an intern to current employees. You wouldn’t want an employee to view a new intern as his/her potential replacement.
• Identify a mentor — Successful interns need to be supervised by an individual who has the management and communication skills as well as the interest and time to train, guide and mentor them. This mentor should be available to the intern on a regular basis.
If you want to influence the lives of the next generation of potential super stars, you should have a super star leader or mentor for them.
An effective method of intern supervision is to meet with the intern to touch base, answer questions, review progress and provide feedback. While this can be in a formal or informal setting, it is advised to meet at least once a week.
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“My internship on a large cow-calf operation in New Mexico was with a family operation, and it was the ranch’s first time having an intern,” Brock Fitzgerald, Shirley, IL, said. “I worked side-by-side with the owner, and he was always offering bits of wisdom, explaining the ‘why’ behind their management practices and helping me understand their management practices and style of working cattle.”
“He viewed me as an equal and sought my views and opinions. I really appreciate how he mentored me.”
An added bonus to any intern is when he/she is given an opportunity to accompany a mentor to an industry meeting and allowed to network with industry movers and shakers and influencers.
• Determine paid vs. unpaid internship — While current employment trends favor paid internships, students still are open to unpaid internships. The caveat, however, is that the unpaid internship must be with a dream employer who will provide a more valuable experience than a paid opportunity.
Before you get too excited about having an unpaid intern, you should know that for an internship to qualify as unpaid, according to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), both the employer and the intern must agree upfront that the internship will be unpaid. Additionally, the U.S. DOL stipulates that unpaid interns should have job responsibilities clearly connected to their program of study. Paid interns, on the other hand, can be asked to complete a variety of menial tasks.
If your company is in a position to pay a wage or offer a stipend, do it. During an interview with Inc.com, Nathan Parcells, co-founder of Intern Match (now Wayup.com) pointed out that paid internships attract three times the number of applicants, and this translates into “more quality interns, a better culture fit and everything else that goes into making an effective hire.”
Additionally, paid interns tend to be happy interns. They’re excited to come to work, hungry to learn, eager to contribute to company goals and ready to put forth their best effort. Paid interns having a positive experience can also become unofficial brand ambassadors for your business. — Teres Lambert
