12 Steps to Setting Up an Intern Program

Implementing an internship program can seem daunting: What's your first step? What's your next step? And how do you know if your company can handle an internship program?

In reality, setting up an internship program is similar to starting any new program or project: It's crucial you have a plan. Once you do, however, it's as easy as checking items off a list until that plan is put into action. Knowing how to start an internship program is no different.

Internship programs offer tremendous benefits to businesses in terms of increasing productivity and recruiting well-suited staff members—especially in small- to medium-sized organizations.

To help you reap these benefits, ICI has created a step-by-step, systematic plan to smoothly guide you from wishing you had an internship program to watching your company enjoy the advantages of this cost-effective source of highly motivated manpower.

Research & Discover.

1. Learn about the landscape. Your first step is to gain a general understanding of the internship arena: What exactly is an internship? Who is Generation Y, and what should you know about hiring them? What are interns looking for in a host organization? Using ICI as your headquarters, read and research as much as possible about the internship industry.

2. Evaluate your organization. Once you get a feel for what an internship program entails, your next step is to conduct an internal assessment of your company's needs and resources.

   Some aspects to consider are whether you will pay interns, or how you can otherwise compensate intern efforts; whether your company can support multiple interns; the availability of meaningful work for interns; the type of projects that can be assigned; your ideal duration and time of year to host interns; and how your physical space and equipment will accommodate additional individuals.

3. Learn about legality. Before you design your program, it's wise to get a grasp on the legal ramifications of hosting interns in your state: minimum wage requirements, workers' compensation issues, safety and harassment policies, termination guidelines, and how other traditional employee benefits and business responsibilities do or don't apply to interns.

   As a host organization, the best way to cover your bases legally is to consult with your company's legal counsel or contact an employment law professional...before you begin the hiring process.

4. Understand college credit. It's a common misconception that internships are always in exchange for college or university credit. Yes, an internship is a learning experience. But whether or not educational credit is obtained is strictly between the student and his or her school.

Plan & Design.

1. Gain business-wide backing. For an internship to succeed, it's necessary to get the entire business on board. From the CEO to senior and junior management, without big-picture buy-in, interns won't feel welcome, and it will be a constant struggle to allocate resources.

   The best way to get the green light? Prepare a presentation explaining how an internship program can help your organization reach its objectives.

2. Design the program.The key component in setting up an internship is to create the structure itself. A comprehensive internship structure should include information on learning objectives, daily responsibilities, short- and long-term projects, supervisor assignments, evaluation procedures, policies and expectations, and orientation and off-boarding processes, to name the basics.

3. Put together a compensation plan. Develop your intern salary or compensation structure. Research current trends and intern expectations; then designate funds, create a budget, and gain the necessary financial approval.

4. Delegate duties. Having staff members take ownership of key roles and responsibilities ensures implementation will move forward and that the internship program will run smoothly once in place. But it doesn't end there. Make sure intern supervisors have the time and resources to effectively manage the participants and the program itself.

5. Select a start date for interns. Leaving your launch date open-ended almost guarantees procrastination. Instead, setting a date about 7 to 10 weeks out will facilitate proper planning.

Take Action.

1. Post the position. Posting openings on ICI gives you exposure to the top student talent. Filling out the position profile is simple and allows you to explain about the position, the industry, and the benefits of working for your business.

2. Evaluate candidates. Start by identifying the specific skills, traits, and training you're looking for. Next, devise a system for evaluating resumes and submissions to decide which prospective interns you will interview.

3. Interview, select, and hire interns. Conduct interviews. Then, perform background checks and contact the references of your top contenders. When making final decisions, be sure the direct supervisor has a say in selecting a candidate. Finally, refer to your program structure (designed in step six) to begin your on-boarding and orientation processes.

Employer takeaway: Don't let the unknown nature of starting an internship program be a deterrent. Simply follow the 12 steps to starting an internship above, and your business will be benefitting from the extra sets of hands—and fresh perspectives—in no time.

10 Benefits of Starting an Intern Program

You've mulled it over with management. It's consistently on the agenda at meetings. And you know that even—actually, especially—small- and medium-sized companies are already reaping huge rewards. In fact, you've been contemplating creating a program for months—even years.

But you've yet to actually take the next step and start an internship program at your organization.

Hopefully, that's about to change. Consider these internship statistics from the National Association of Colleges and Employers' (NACE) 2009 Experiential Education Survey:

• 67.7% of 2007-08 interns were offered fulltime positions.
• 83.6% of these offers were accepted.
• 35.3% of employers' fulltime, entry-level college hires came from their internship programs.

If we look at internships from a solution-based perspective, it's good news as well. Because, essentially, as a small- to medium-sized business, your primary needs are twofold:

1. Effectively manage your workflow to accomplish immediate objectives.
2. Find new team members to help grow your business and accomplish your future (i.e. larger, more lucrative) objectives.

Setting up an internship program meets both needs simultaneously. But let's examine the specific benefits in more detail.

10 Benefits of Starting an Internship Program

1. Find future employees. An internship program is a year-round recruiting tool. Fall internships, summer internships, semester internships, and quarterly internships, implementing an internship program means you have an ongoing pipeline of future fulltime employees.

   For many, the process of recruiting and hiring is a drain on company resources. One solution: Appeal to tomorrow's staff members when they're looking for internships, and all you have to do is choose the best of the bunch when it comes time to hire.

   Moreover, college campuses are viral societies. This means if your organization impresses one class of interns, word will quickly spread. Soon you'll find the most sought-after student talent is interested in working with you.

2. Test-drive the talent. It's a human resources reality: A new employee makes a solid impression in the interview, but then just doesn't gel with your current team or your company's way of doing things.

   Because of this, hiring someone as an intern is the most effective way to evaluate their potential as a fulltime employee. When you "try out" candidates via a semester or summer internship, you make fewer mistakes when it comes to fulltime staffing; you avoid the pitfall of training a new hire, only to find out they're not a fit for your organization…or that the entry-level employee doesn't like the field. Starting an internship program lets you benefit from added manpower, while more accurately assessing candidates.

3. Increase productivity. Speaking of additional manpower, setting up an internship program allows you to take advantage of short-term support. The extra sets of hands help your employees be more productive, prevent them from becoming overburdened by side projects, as well as free them up to accomplish more creative tasks or those where higher-level, strategic thinking or expertise is required.

4. Increase employee-retention rate. The proof for the test-driving theory is in the positive employee-retention figures: According to NACE's 2009 Experiential Education Survey, almost 40% of employers reported a higher five-year retention rate among employees they'd hired via their internship programs.

5. Enhance perspective. It's not just the extra sets of hands that make interns advantageous. Especially in an organization of only 12 or 15 employees, new people bring with them novel perspectives, fresh ideas, and specialized strengths and skill sets. These augment the abilities of your professional workforce.

6. Take advantage of low-cost labor. Interns are an inexpensive resource. Their salaries are significantly lower than staff employees, and you aren't obligated to pay unemployment or a severance package should you not hire them on fulltime. Moreover, while their wage requirements are modest, they're among the most highly motivated members of the workforce.

7. Find free-of-charge. ICI allows you to post your employer profile completely free of charge. This means you get extensive exposure to the top colleges and candidates without putting a dent in your recruiting budget.

8. Give back to the community. As a small business, you likely rely on community support. Creating an internship program is an excellent way to give back. Hiring interns not only helps students in your community get started; it enhances the local workforce as a whole.

9. Support students. Internships provide students numerous perks: They gain experience, develop skills, make connections, strengthen their resumes, learn about a field, and assess their interest and abilities.

   Offering a paid internship is particularly beneficial, because it enables economically disadvantaged youth to participate. Students who have to help fund their own schooling will need a job, regardless. Providing an internship allows that job to facilitate a positive future.

10. Benefit your small business. When looking for fulltime work, the top talent often go for big-name businesses. But when seeking internships, learning is the leading draw. Many candidates feel they'll get more hands-on training, real experience, and mentoring opportunities with smaller organizations.

Employer takeaway: In terms of both today's workload and tomorrow's workforce, starting an internship program is an excellent way to facilitate success at your small- or medium-sized business.

10 Tips for a Successful Internship Program

Internships are a great way for students to gain experience and explore career options, but don’t forget to consider what interns can do for your company. A good internship experience can and should be mutually beneficial. Below are 10 points for you to consider when discussing whether to hire an intern and how to go about the process.

10 Tips

1. Survey your company, asking departments if they want interns, what skill sets, and how many interns they need. Some departments find interns useful and others find them a nuisance. Avoid creating ill feelings among departments that might feel slighted if they never get an intern to help out.

2. Assign interns to areas that may need a full-time employee in the near future, using the internship to “test the waters” with candidates that you might hire. Be sure to ask employees in those areas for their evaluations on each intern’s performance.

3. Consider rotating interns to cover areas left vacant as employees take summer vacations. Suggest that the departing employee give the intern an orientation on what to do to reduce the workload on the remaining staff. Although the intern may only be able to perform basic duties, such as correspondence, the department will appreciate the additional help.

4. Appoint one junior employee to be in charge of interns as Intern Manager and point of contact and to mentor and monitor intern performance, freeing senior employees for more cost-effective assignments. The junior employee also increases the intern’s comfort level since the intern will enjoy working with a younger employee closer to his or her own age.

5. Allow your Intern Manager ample time in his/her schedule to coordinate each intern’s schedule with the appropriate departmental manager. Arrange for the intern to spend a certain amount of time either daily or weekly with the Intern Manager to review progress. Establish a clear chain of command, ensuring that your employees know if they have any concerns about the departmental intern, they can get help from the Intern Manager.

6. Prepare a description of internship duties and email it to the incoming intern for review, answering any questions ahead of time to prevent confusion. Make sure the intern has an Intern Packet with appropriate materials before the start date. The Intern Packet should contain company policy information as well as forms to track intern activity.

7. Send a broadcast email to your employee distribution list that announces the intern, gives a sentence or two about him/her, and asks staff to extend a warm welcome. On the day that the intern starts, the Intern Manager should take the intern on a tour and introduce the new member to individual staff.

8. Arrange for the Intern Manager to meet with the intern on Day #1and discuss expectations and outcomes on both sides. Set the intern up to succeed by starting with small projects and graduating to more complicated and lengthy assignments.

9. Ensure that the intern has a desk and proper supplies so he/she can begin productive work immediately. A more senior intern—if available—may want to have a short meeting with the new intern to talk about office procedures or to explain the computer system or any unfamiliar technology systems. Utilize current interns to train incoming interns, reducing staff time with interns and facilitating employees to fulfill work objectives.

10. Reward an unpaid intern in other ways. If your company has a cafeteria, give the intern a pass that enables him/her to eat for free on working days. Take the intern to a professional meeting as your guest, paying for his/her lunch and introducing him to other professionals. Give a gift certificate at the end of the internship as well as write a letter of recommendation. Interns are your best source of future interns, and students share information about their experiences. Make sure everyone wants to intern at your company, so you have a wide selection of excellent applicants.

10 Internship Characteristics That Attract Exceptional Interns

What Do Interns Want? 10 Characteristics That Attract Exceptional Interns

Some employers believe that the current economy means companies have their choice of available interns. They think that, due to a shortage of employment opportunities, interns must be indiscriminately searching for any organizational opening.

As a result, some companies have gotten lax in terms of learning what students really want in an internship; they’ve gotten lethargic about program development and promoting themselves to peak the interest of interns.

While it is true that some companies have cut spending on internship programs, if you want to attract the top talent and achievers, you need to create a program that appeals to students.

So what do interns look for when choosing a program? What do interns want?

10 Features Interns Look for in an Internship Program

1. Fitting fundamentals. Whether the basics of a program meet the student’s specific needs is the first criterion they consider: Is the nature of the work a match for their major and career objectives? What is the timeframe, duration, and location of the program? How is the program structured in terms of hours and days per week?

Yes, many of these criteria are outside a company’s control. However, understanding what’s important to interns means you can create a posting that clearly addresses these aspects. And in it, you can put a positive spin on any less-desirable details. (Click here for tips on writing an effective posting.)

2. Compensation. Sure, it’s not all about the money; and, it’s true, you can’t put a price on valuable experience. But the unfortunate reality is that not all students can afford to work for free, no matter how much they might be motivated and interested in your industry. So before you decide you can’t compensate interns at all, consider whether your budget might accommodate a more modest wage.

3. Appealing perks. Even if you can pay interns a standard wage—and especially if they’ll be working without compensation—give some thought to how you might entice the cream of the student crop with some (seemingly trivial) incentives.

More than you might imagine, extras like free breakfasts, lunches, or designer coffee drinks—or even a half-day off every other Friday—can tip the scales in your favor when interns are picking between programs. And should they choose your organization, benefits like these can boost morale by communicating to interns their value to the company.

4. Meaningful work. Possibly more than anything else, interns are constantly clamoring for more “meaningful” work. Remember, their primary objective is to learn…both about the business in general as well as to acquire the specific skills necessary to function effectively in the industry. When you “use” students simply to perform grunt work, you are robbing them of the opportunity to develop their knowledge and abilities. In short, a program without meaningful work is rendered meaningless to the intern.

5. Inclusion. In line with the learning objective is to what extent the organization includes the intern in employee activities. Aside from assigning challenging projects with educational value, inviting interns to meetings and other activities—as participants or observers—is an enticing attribute.

Including the intern whenever appropriate serves a dual purpose: It exposes them to more situations in which they can observe supervisor behavior and interactions. Moreover, it makes 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.

6. Supervisor accessibility. There’s nothing more frustrating to interns than feeling forgotten: being left hanging around with no one to tell them what to do or to clarify the questions necessary to complete a project. In the best internship programs, there is always someone available.

Essentially, when the direct supervisor is out or occupied, there should be someone else assigned to the intern; and the intern should be made aware of this person and how to get a hold of them. Therefore, if at any point the intern has questions, they know there’s someone who can, if not answer their question, at least assign an interim task or let them know when their supervisor will return.

7. Detailed direction. Popular internship programs see to it that supervisors give easily understandable direction. Because not only does this reduce feelings of frustration, it gives the intern the information they need to succeed. Remember, an intern who feels proud of their accomplishments will more likely feel pleased with the program itself. (Login here to view the free Internships Made Easy manual to download detailed Project Sheets.)

8. Effective evaluation. Students want to succeed. But the only way they’ll know if they’re falling short or exceeding expectations is through feedback. In a highly rated internship program, evaluations are structured, scheduled regularly, and include both praise and critique. Most importantly, criticism is coupled with clear direction on how to make improvements.

9. Appealing environment. Just like permanent employees, interns want somewhere comfortable to come to work…on both a physical and personal level. On the physical front, interns should have a workspace where they don’t feel like they’re intruding on another’s territory. And they certainly need their own chair and desk (or at least a dedicated tabletop). Also, employers must make sure interns have easy access to any necessary equipment: computer, printer, phone, fax, etc.

On the personal front, friendliness and helpfulness go a long way in affecting an intern’s opinion of an organization. Above all else, interns should be treated with the same respect as any employee—bonus if the environment is free from cattiness, unnecessary drama, and oversized egos.

10. Candidness & congruency. Beginning with the posting of the position, it’s important that employers are honest about what the student can expect from the internship. Misrepresenting the ratio of meaningful work to mindless work, the number of expected hours, or the skill set and/or subject matter involved can cause your program to develop a negative reputation. Moreover, pretending a program is something it’s not, in order to attract candidates, takes away an intern’s ability to choose the position best suited to their academic and career objectives.

Employer takeaway: Don’t let the current economic climate make you lax; in any economy, the interns who can make the most important contributions to your company will choose the most quality internship programs.

So how will interns know whether your internship program is top notch? As mentioned, your posting sheds some light on what students can expect. But primarily, their peers will tell them. And for better or worse, word travels fast around college campuses.

7 Reasons to Consider the Virtual Internship

The start of the school year brings new opportunities for students; it also brings new challenges—especially in terms of time management.

As an employer, there are tips to help you hire and manage interns carrying a full load of classes. But there are also innovative new internship approaches that benefit both employers and students trying to juggle school, an internship, and other obligations.

Introducing the Virtual Internship

Simply speaking, a virtual internship is when an intern works remotely… as in anywhere other than your office.

Sometimes referred to as “telecommuting” or “offsite work,” in the job market in general, hiring virtual employees has officially become a trend. (You’ve likely heard the buzz about “virtual assistants.”)

With the internship arena following trends in the traditional business world, the virtual internship is catching on as well. And with good reason: Hiring interns to work remotely has an array of advantages. Moreover, it’s an outstanding solution for making the most of intern talent while classes are in session.

Employers: 7 Advantages of the Virtual Internship

Sure, students are attracted to virtual internships because they allow them to gain experience without commuting, committing 40 hours a week, or considering physical proximity of jobs.

But virtual internships also offer a number of appealing benefits for employers:

1.  Larger applicant pool. Hiring virtual interns allows you an almost endless choice of candidates. No longer are employers limited to only those interns who live nearby or—in the case of unpaid internships—to those who can afford to work for free.

2.  Workers only when needed. For small businesses who wonder whether they have enough work to support a fulltime internship program, a virtual internship makes it easy to utilize interns on a per-project basis.

As long as you guarantee an intern a certain number of hours per week, month, or semester, you can assign projects to be completed remotely as they arise, without worrying about creating work when things slow down… and an eager intern is standing in front of you.

3.  Space and equipment savings. Since virtual interns don’t work at your office, you don’t have to allocate additional workspace.

Furthermore, like other remote employees, virtual interns are expected to have their own computer and Internet connection, basic office equipment, and standard supplies. So while it may seem miniscule to consider paperclip costs when assessing an internship arrangement, eliminating larger items—think furniture, paper, and printing expenses—can add up to significant savings.

In other words, if internships in general are a cost-effective source of motivated, intelligent labor, virtual internships take the value focus one step further.

4. Payroll pare down. Speaking of savings, in some cases, virtual internships can nearly eliminate the number of unproductive, paid hours of work.

Assuming your organization implements a solid system for tracking hours worked remotely, offsite work can actually maximize productivity. The reason is that, when an employee is onsite for an entire day, a certain percentage of time will often be spent socializing or doing other less-constructive activities to mentally recharge. Because many interns—or employees for that matter—simply don’t spend eight hours straight in dedicated work mode. Yet the timeclock ticks on.

On the other hand, remote workers are taught to bill their time in blocks and to log in and out when they take breaks or switch gears. Therefore, the result can be far fewer hours billed for the same amount of actual work.

5. Interruption reduction. If you have a small staff, hiring remote interns means you won’t have to overwhelm one employee with the task of training or supervising an intern 40 hours a week… or with an intern having unlimited access to assistance.

Of course there will be time spent training, but when interns are offsite, it is the supervisor’s choice when to respond to questions or requests for instruction. For instance, the staff member can address questions in a single email or phone call at their convenience, as opposed to having an intern pop into their office at will.

While this can be considered a drawback for students, the reduction in workflow interference is seen as a solid benefit by staff members.

6. Student scheduling convenience. A virtual internship program easily accommodates busy school-year students because of its innate flexibility.

With onsite opportunities, students must make time for an internship during normal business hours; this can be a juggling act since classes often take place during the day as well. And if a student must work a second job to make ends meet, balancing the three can be a losing battle.

By contrast, virtual intern tasks can be completed at the student’s convenience. Midnight, midday, or Saturday afternoon are all perfectly acceptable hours of operation.

7. Capitalization on familiar communication. Virtual internships take advantage of the fact that today’s intern is likely most comfortable communicating online.

Generation Y connects, learns, and socializes via a computer or portable digital device; because of this, blogging, tweeting, and Facebooking from their couch or favorite coffee shop simply feels familiar. Meanwhile, suiting up for corporate life in a traditional office setting may seem incompatible with their more mobile way of living.

This doesn’t mean learning how to function face to face with coworkers isn’t important: Ideally, tomorrow’s employee will be adept at both ways of working. But a student who is already saddled with responsibilities will be grateful for the chance to gain experience in a virtual setting. And as employers know, happy workers are hard workers.

Employer takeaway: Don’t let busy student schedules deter you from utilizing intern talent during the school year. Innovative approaches, such as the virtual internship, are becoming increasingly popular methods for employers to reap the many rewards of internships, while working around student time constraints. In fact, the virtual internship program has become a viable option for capitalizing on employer benefits year round.