Taking advantage of your company's internshipprograms presents both you and your internswith a win-win proposition:
The intern learnsimportant job skills, while you gain a valuableresource for your department and possibly anew hire if the intern proves worthy. Taking advantage of your company's internshipprograms presents both you and your interns with a win-win proposition: The intern learnsimportant job skills, while you gain a valuable resource for your department and possibly anew hire if the intern proves worthy.Now increasingly available both to highschool students and to recent college graduates,internships have long been considered an essential adjunct of the college curriculum.
They provide hands-on work experience thatcomplements a course of study, build confi-dence, and help students put their abilities tothe test. Consequently, a good internshipfor a reputable company or one with strong learningopportunitiesis highly sought after. Asan indication of just how strong their appealcan be, consider the New York Yankees, who getmore than 4,000 internship applications for just20 positions.For employers, internships hold comparableappeal, not the least because of the fresh ideas andpositive energy interns supply, which can boostemployee morale and motivation. Interns are notjaded; they're often thrilled to lend a hand. Theycan do research or support marketing efforts thatwill help you launch projects that have been onthe back burner.
By shouldering lower-level work,interns can also make your existing staff moreproductive. At the same time, employees overseeinginterns can gain supervisory experience andimprove project-management skills. Interns canboost the diversity of your work force, build relationshipswith schools and colleges, and increase our company's visibility among other students,who will soon enter the work force. Offering aninternship also allows you to try out a youngemployee before bringing him or her permanentlyon board.Internships can last from one month to oneyear, although a semester is average. Some studentsearn academic credit and some don't. Someearn a salary and others work for free.
Some companies offer non-monetary perks,such as housing, free products, time with CEOs,or invitations to special events.When creating your own internship program,remember that the best internships provide substantivework for the interns, so that they makea contribution even as they're building theirskills. A good internship program should involveinterns in day-to-day operations and exposethem to different aspects of your company.Start by asking your employees to come upith a list of jobs that interns could tackle think of all those projects you've been tooshorthanded to accomplish. Establish the expectationamong your staff that interns will benefitthe company and do meaningful work.
Designate one person on your staff to bein charge of the program and to manage theinterns. Expect that they will spend three to fourhours a week supervising one or two interns, andblock out an additional two hours for each additionalintern. When deciding how many internsto hire, factor in supervisory time, the amountof work you can assign, and the resources you'llneed. Set aside adequate work space withaccess to computers and other equipment. Besure to budget funds for recruitment, compensation,and incentives and rewards.It's important to treat an intern as more thanjust the office grunt. Make sure that no morethan 25 percent of the intern's time is spent onduties of a clerical or repetitive nature, such asselling, stock-keeping, telemarketing, or dataentry. Some colleges and universities, especiallythose that offer academic credit for internships,require that employers sign a written agreementoutlining measurable learning objectives.
CRUNCHING NUMBERS WITH INTERNS
At PricewaterhouseCoopers, the
world's largest professional-services
firm, interns don't simply report for
work. They start out in Landsdown,
Virginia, with a challenging week-anda-
half "boot camp." Recruitsthat
is, internstough it out together for
long hours every day. Once on the job,
interns are given older mentors as well
as peer group mentors. They learn critical
skills as members of client teams,
including developing strategies and
doing financial analysis.
Another auditing and accounting
giant, Ernst & Young, specifically
recruits interns who possess the same
values as their employeesthe desire
to pursue professionalism in all matters.
As a result, 90 percent of their
interns become full-time employees.
SOURCE: "They Love It Here, and Here and Here,"
BusinessWeek Online (June 4, 2006).
CRUNCHING NUMBERS WITH INTERNS
At PricewaterhouseCoopers, theworld's largest professional-servicefirm, interns don't simply report forwork. They start out in LandsdownVirginia, with a challenging week-anda-half "boot camp." Recruitsthatis, interns tough it out together forlong hours every day. Once on the job,interns are given older mentors as wellas peer group mentors. They learn criticalskills as members of client teams,including developing strategies anddoing financial analysis.Another auditing and accountinggiant, Ernst & Young, specificallyrecruits interns who possess the samevalues as their employeesthe desireto pursue professionalism in all matters.As a result, 90 percent of theirinterns become full-time employees.
SOURCE: "They Love It Here, and Here and Here,"BusinessWeek Online.
CREATING "GAME" COMPETITORS
In an effort to attract the nation's topyoung talent, a number of companies,such asL'Oreal, began sponsoringcompetitions that involve business simulationgames. By emphasizingsuch qualities as teamwork and problem-solving, these games pinpointthe outstanding candidates amongparticipating undergraduates, graduatestudents, and MBAs.L'Oreal offers three separate games,each with a different focus: e-StratChallenge, a marketing strategy game;Brandstorm, in which students becomemarketing managers for Lancme; andIngenious, which requires students tooversee an engineering project. So far,the company's efforts have paid off:
In 2006, according to Ronald Alsopin the Wall Street Journal, e-StratChallenge, "attracted almost 40,000students from 1,000 schools in 125countries." Brandstorm has generatedapproximately 350 L'Oreal hires andinterns, e-Strat generated another 200,and Ingenius has resulted in.
SOURCE: "Recruiters Are Using Games to AssessMBAs" by Ronald Alsop, Wall Street Journal Online.
PLANNING FOR INTERNS
Providing interns the support theyneed makes all the difference. Theseare a few key things you can do toensure the success of your internshipprogram:
Assign interns real work.
Set measurable learning objectives.
Provide detailed explanations oftheir assignments.
Offer constructive feedback on theirperformance.
Assign them to an experiencedadvisor with the time to teach andguide them.
Give them the appropriate toolsdesk, chair, phone, computer, orthe like.
