Internships are highly vital for college students. It gives them their first taste of working in the industry and provides them with valuable experience as they start their career.
However, it must also be emphasized that a good internship program can also benefit a company. If you’re researching how to create your own internship program or looking to improve one that’s already existing, here are six steps to take in mind.
1. Network for a larger talent pool
One of the benefits of a solid internship program framework is it can provide access to the best young talent. To maximize this benefit, you must network to get a larger talent pool. One way to do this is by coordinating with college campuses to make your firm visible among prospecting interns.
Aside from old-school ways of getting interns, you can also turn to online platforms like WayUp or After College, where early-career candidates browse for opportunities. In addition to that, good ol’ LinkedIn is always a great platform to announce your call for interns.
2. Gain perspective from colleges
Alongside networking with colleges to get interns, touching base with career counselors is a great way to gain insights into the current internship arena. This effort can be especially crucial for firms that are offering internships for the first time.
What kind of skill sets do interns aim to hone during their internship? By getting the academe’s perspective, you can further sharpen your program to best serve the interns and the company.
3. Don’t treat them as interns
What makes a good internship program? According to an employer guide published by Bryant University, the top things students look for in a program include intentional learning, career, personal development, and industry-related and soft skill development.
That said, an intern won’t achieve those goals if you shelter them too much. Also, it’s crucial to make your interns feel like they’re part of the team by including them in get-togethers and other company activities.
4. Give interns real tasks
To hone interns’ field and soft skills, an ideal corporate internship program framework involves giving them real tasks. Yes, just because they’re interns doesn’t mean they should be limited to phone duties or coffee runs.
Let your interns experience what it’s like to really work on the firm by giving them industry-related tasks. Doing so will help ensure that they’re learning what they need to learn as interns. Also, it will allow them to be accountable even if they’re not “real” hires (not yet, at least).
5. Encourage feedback
Some firms struggle with how to manage internship program guidelines. In such cases, a good feedback process is vital. After all, the best people to assess your program’s quality are the interns who go through it.
Have a process in place that will help monitor interns’ progress during their stay in the firm. Also, make sure to have interns answer a post-internship assessment to gauge your program’s strengths and weaknesses. In addition to that, it also helps to assess how the program is working for the firm internally. Has it allowed you to recruit top-notch talents?
6. Give interns action items for growth
Aside from giving interns actual tasks during the internship program, you must also ensure that these tasks allow the intern to grow. One way to do this is by assigning a work mentor to each intern. The mentor works hand-in-hand with the intern and tracks their progress with tasks assigned to them. Most firms assign junior-level employees to mentor interns in order to foster a relaxed, professional relationship that interns might be intimidated to develop with a managerial-level boss.
