Hiring an intern can be daunting for any company. It’s a lot different than hiring a full-time employee. Interns can bring new perspectives and fresh ideas to your company, but they also bring many unknowns when it comes to working in a new environment.
When you have found the right intern for the right position, you will need to carry out an induction process ensuring that your interns are aware of your policies and procedures. Agree to regular catch up meetings so that your intern is supported and is working productively.
To help you navigate this process we’ve created this ultimate guide on how to recruit, induct, and manage interns successfully.
Recruiting Interns
One of the first steps in attracting the right intern is to create the right role for an internship. The process starts by designing a job description to attract interns who may qualify for the role.
The right Job Description
But what kind of job description should you write? Well as an intern myself, I and other fellow interns love job descriptions that have a variety of tasks and responsibilities, related to the role.
You see, as interns we want to be exposed to as many different experiences as possible, to not get bored and to develop a variety of new skill sets
Advertise your Job (There are lots of FREE sites for this!)
What next? Post the job, list the role on a variety of job sites like… Indeed, Glassdoor or at a college or university’s career centre (my personal favourite)
The Interview Process
The next step is having an interview for potential interns that have met all or some of the criteria outlined in your job description.
But how do you decide who is the right intern? You can start by finding out about previous projects they have completed. Check what they did, how they did it, how they tackled challenges and what successes they achieved. This allows you to have an idea of their thinking process and capabilities. The other factor which is just as important, is the passion and drive they show during the interview.
You see, it’s very easy to seem like the perfect candidate, but the candidates that stand out are the ones who can show how passionate they are for the position, with a dash of enthusiasm. This can also be a deciding factor as it shows that the candidate will try to do their best, even if they lack the experience.
Here’s a great question to ask at the interview, ‘What do you hope to achieve from this internship?’, this will help you better understand how to support and or mentor your intern for a better experience.
Inducting Your Interns
Inducting your interns is the key to a successful internship. It’s important to invest the time to onboard your interns right from the start. Not only do they need to be set up with the right tools and systems. They need to know about your policies and procedures, your business structure and where they fit within its day-to-day operations.
Most importantly they need to know what your business vision, purpose and goals are. What tasks to focus on. How their work contributes to the team and the business.
You may only have an intern for a few months, so assessing their training needs from the get go is important. You want to upskill your interns so they can perform the tasks effectively and be productive during the internship.The more you can give your intern at the very start, the more successful and happy they will be.
Managing Your Interns
Interns are like any other employee, except they need more time to blossom. To best manage an intern it is important to have bi-weekly meetings, to gain their thoughts and opinions about the internship.
However, do note that most interns will not voice any negatives in terms of their position. This is why it is very important to create a safe nurturing space to be able to have a conversation where any negative criticisms can be raised.
You see, most interns starting out may feel uncomfortable expressing their opinions about the workplace unless the company and the manager have a relaxed, friendly atmosphere.
If an intern does express or show some negative feelings about the company, it is important to find out what is going on for them. Have a conversation, offer support, advice or training, and where appropriate refer back to the University or establishment that referred the intern.
Conclusion
Hiring interns is a great way to find fresh talent and give your business a boost. But make sure you have the right processes to support their growth with the possibility of joining your company permanently at the end of the internship.
YDP – Luis Pereira