While it may seem like the summer months are still far away, the warmer temps and summer season will be here before we know it. And loads of college students will be searching for internship opportunities in order to beef up their resumes, gain work experience, and begin building their professional networks. If you are considering leveraging an intern this summer, there are some tried and true pointers to keep in mind:
Recruit
Get started early by visiting with local colleges and universities and learning more about their open houses and opportunities for students seeking internships. This will enable you to develop a relationship with a local educational institution that may have additional insights into their intern-seeking students than you would see in a resume.
Interview
Don’t hold back … interview your intern like you would a full-time employee. Do not cut the prospect any slack because they’re simply “going to be an intern” and will only work for your company for a limited time. This interview if often the first formal interview many students will go on, so give them the entire experience of what it is like to interview for a job. And who knows, you may end up deciding to hire this person at the end of their tenure, so make sure you take your time with the interview.
Hire
Set rules and expectations before the intern begins on their first day by sending them an employee handbook or helpful tips in a PDF outlining your expectations of all employees at the firm. This can cover things as small as timekeeping and dress code, to larger items like employee culture. When day one arrives, give the intern a work “buddy” that can show them around on their first day. This will help them feel like a member of your team, rather than someone who has been left to fend for themselves for the three months they’ll be working out of the office.
Delegate
Provide your intern with challenging learning opportunities. If you’ve recruited and interviewed with purpose, then your intern should be capable and will desire a challenge when they visit your office. Giving them boring to-dos will result in disengagement and low morale.
Provide Feedback
Constructive and consistent feedback is a complete necessary for any intern. After all, this may be the first professional job this person has held, so you’re doing yourself, your company, your intern and their future employers a disservice by not reviewing the intern’s strengths/weaknesses on a consistent basis.
Send Them On Their Way
If they are not staying for a full-time position, then your intern will be leaving the company in a few short months. Make sure to offer yourself as a reference (if you believe the intern has earned this), and keep their most up-to-date contact information in case a position opens up at your firm that they may be an exceptional fit for.
