Those are real quotes from a BuzzFeed article, “17 Intern Horror Stories That Will Make You Want To Quit Your Job.” Sugar packets, cleaning sweat, and running “errands” are not effective uses of an intern’s potential nor does it reflect positively upon the employer.
Not only are internships important to students but they also play a key role in establishing your company as the employer of choice in your area. But if your internship program consists of menial tasks and grunt work, then you should redesign your internship strategy and learn how to hire an intern that can do more than order coffee.
There are over 20 million college students in America, with 15 million of them looking for internships. For the interns an internship helps to meet a graduation requirement while providing hands-on experience. Interns are great because usually they are eager to work, learn and contribute so misusing their talents can be disengaging for them and a total waste of potential and valuable resources for the company. Let’s stop wasting time and resources and let’s start developing an attractive internship program with an endless supply of talented and skilled new ideas. Here are 6 steps to hiring an intern who can do more than order coffee.
Consider the work (projects) that you would like the intern to perform and be sure the work is relevant to their field of study and your business model. Choose a manager or supervisor, preferably someone with a great attitude and performance record, for the intern to report to, learn from, as well as develop the intern. Collaborate with the manager or supervisor to make a list of the top duties and tasks necessary for job success.
Interns can be paid or unpaid because the experience is more important than the pay but everyone loves a paid internship so if you are going to pay them be sure that pay is equal for both men and women and is not based on any protected classifications. Again, if you decide to pay your interns it should be a stipend or a flat amount.
Search for schools, universities, and community colleges to partner with to develop a pipeline of talent to draw from. Then interview the top picks utilizing standardize questions which pertain to the job and company culture. You might want to consider a realistic job preview or job shadowing to evaluate their candidacy.
Work with the manager or supervisor to outline the intern assessment skills that you think are important and them work with eSkills assessments to create a customized internship assessment skills test. Keep in mind, as students, their skills are still developing, so you do not want your intern assessment test to evaluate the same way for interns as for full time employees because interns likely won’t have the experience to draw from.
Onboard your interns just as you would a full-time employee. Interns need to know what the company does and how it does it, in HR terms they need to know the culture, processes, brand, vision, and mission. Don’t make interns feel like outsiders, include them in on meetings and corporate activities or even take them to a professional development event, this will make them feel like they are truly part of the company.
Buy a coffeemaker and get your own coffee or better yet have it delivered so you can use the intern for more important work.
Final note, be sure the internship program is fun and gives students an opportunity to learn, contribute their thoughts, ideas, and energy. Follow these steps and you will hire interns who can do more than order coffee.
OSF Digital uses eSkill assessments to measure the specific technical skills needed for its varied IT professional positions. This has allowed them to reduce the costs of the selection process by 64% and the time spent by 68%.
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