Summer is here! For many organizations, summer is the perfect time for completing all the tasks that get put on the back burner during the rest of the year. Having a summer internship program can assist with many of your organization’s summertime ambitions and you can reap benefits in ways that go far beyond just having an extra set of hands. How? Here are six ways that summer interns can be a valuable resource for your organization.
- Create a Future Talent Pipeline
A summer internship at your organization is not just a short-term summer job, but could be a summer-long training program for an entry level position. Summer interns should be interviewed and selected carefully, just as you would do for full time employees. Interns who complete tasks well and on time, take initiative to help out in other areas, express interest in learning more, and fit in with your culture could potentially make excellent future employees.
By creating a pipeline of interns to consider for entry level opportunities, organizations are able to cut down on recruiting costs and time. Plus, because the intern is already familiar with the culture, people, and the way things are done, ramp up time to productivity as an employee is minimal. NACE reports that employers convert an average of 51.7% of their eligible interns into full time hires. Finding the right talent is difficult – cultivating your employees early in their careers instead of fishing for them later is better for everyone!
- Get Real Help with Real Projects
You have chosen driven, engaged, and eager interns to join your team for the summer. Now what do you do with them? First, you need to set clear goals and objectives for the internship program. The primary objective for interns is to learn new skills and more about the industry. Forbes recommends designing a meaningful project that will challenge the intern – something with an end result that will help the organization.
Once you have designed a project, ensure that you have designated a mentor to help train and guide the intern throughout the process. Many times this is the intern’s first time getting hands- on experience in the field. The chosen mentor should be patient and accessible, and have the time to dedicate to both the intern and the project. By giving interns a real world problem to solve with the right tools to succeed, interns get the experience they crave, and you get a viable solution for your organization. Everyone wins!
- Build an Employer Brand
Thanks to social media, anything anyone writes about an experience has the potential to go viral. Just like anything else, internships are subjected to reviews, whether good or bad. If an intern had a great experience working for your organization, word will get out, and people will want to get in. Alternatively, a bad experience could be detrimental to your organization’s reputation and could deter potential candidates. To ensure a good internship experience (and in turn, a positive employer brand), first make sure the internship is focused on doing meaningful work with the right amount of guidance (see above).
Not only is the type of work important, but including interns in meetings, brainstorming sessions, or other activities when appropriate is a great way to keep them engaged. According to Internship.com, including the interns serves the dual purpose of exposing them to more situations in which they can observe real world interactions in a work environment, while also making them feel part of the team. In the end, an intern who was treated like an “insider” is much more likely to accept a job offer or to speak favorably about a company to their peers.
As important as the work itself is, internships shouldn’t be all work and no play! According to Urbanbound, Millennials thrive in settings in which they feel like they are working with their friends. Even if interns are located in different offices or working within different teams, create situations in which they get to interact with each other on a personal level. Planning fun events like baseball games, amusement park outings, group dinners, etc., offer a way for interns to connect with each other and round out the internship experience. These “bragworthy” experiences are sure to catch the ear of many students around campus.
- Create Stronger Leaders Through Mentoring
Not only do interns benefit from having a dedicated mentor, but mentors themselves also gain great leadership skills as well. For many junior or mid-level employees, being a mentor for an intern is the first time they have functioned in a position of authority. According to The Balance Careers, when employees have to carefully teach interns how to do tasks and accomplish goals, often it can personally motivate them to act as stronger leaders. Strong mentors strengthen organizations and make for a more supportive environment overall.
- Enhance Culture through Fresh Perspective
Interns bring a fresh outlook to organizations and often challenge the status quo by offering new ideas on how to improve strategies or processes. Interns also come equipped with the newest technologies and specialized strengths that can add value to organizations. According to College Recruiter, the new perspective that interns introduce can also improve an organization’s culture by digging employees out of ruts, bridging personality gaps, and bringing the team closer. If your organization needs a facelift, consider adding some interns to the mix!
- Receive Useful Feedback through Offboarding
Don’t let an internship end without conducting an exit interview. Urbanbound recommends doing an exit interview in two parts: an in-person interview first, and a few weeks later, an online survey.
The in-person interview will allow for an active exchange in which the intern can speak his or her mind and your organization’s representative has the opportunity to respond and ask follow-up questions. With the online survey, not only are you are more likely to get honest feedback, the intern has had time to reflect on the internship and will be able to provide more meaningful insights about his or her experience. Make sure to document the exit interviews and set aside time to analyze, discuss, and evaluate the results with your organization’s key people.
Finally, encourage your interns to stay in touch with you throughout the year. Offer to write a letter of recommendation or a Linked In endorsement. These are great ways to leave the intern with a feeling of accomplishment as he or she finishes the program, and with a good lasting impression of your organization (and that translates to good press!).
Summer internships enhance your organization in so many ways. Whether your organization is large or small, with careful planning, you can design an internship program that will benefit everyone. After all, today’s interns are tomorrow’s employees, so if you wow them now, you just might get to keep them later.
