An internship program can be a productive and profitable business strategy when planned and implemented with knowledge, carefulness, and decisiveness.
I believe that quality internships are a part of the solution to closing the skills gap, building a stronger workforce, helping adults re-enter the workforce, increasing employee engagement and retention, and increasing college graduation rates.
As an Internship Consultant, I provide don’t offer legal or financial business advice, but I provide guidance and best practices on developing sustainable internship programs and managing successful interns.
- An Internship Consultant can help you avoid internship program pitfalls.
- An Internship Consultant can help you develop systems and processes so both your business and your intern succeed.
- Launch your internship program on a solid foundation.
- Don’t hire an intern who lacks interest in your company.
- Offer continuous learning opportunities.
- A poorly implemented internship program can be detrimental to your business.
- An Internship Consultant can recruit, hire, and train the right intern so you can focus on growing your business.
- Paying your interns increases your pool of talented candidates.
- A portfolio allows your intern to assess learning, demonstrate knowledge, and evaluate their performance.
- An Internship Consultant can help you resolve your internship program challenges.
- Don’t hire an intern whose skills don’t match your needs.
- Selecting contents for a career portfolio together will help both manager and intern to address and evaluate performance and learning.
- Consider the barriers that may prevent your internship opportunity from being accessible to all applicants.
- Paying your interns increases their satisfaction and improves performance.
- Your business success should not depend solely upon the work of an intern.
- The best internships are mutually beneficial for both the intern and the employer.
- Great internship managers are also role models.
- Every new intern encounters a learning curve and needs time to get acclimated to the operations of a company.
- Assign tasks that relate to your intern’s education and career goals.
- Interns are not free labor.
- Assign a variety of tasks and projects to maximize learning and avoid boredom.
- Employers also have internship rights.
- Don’t overlook older interns.
- Successful internship programs require an investment of time and effort.
- Communicate your company values and how they translate into daily operations.
- Hiring is the most important component of your internship program.
- Be clear and consistent in your expectations of interns.
- Interns should receive orientation and guidance just like regular employees.
- Your intern should directly report to only one manager to avoid confusion.
- The responsibilities of an intern should be explained and discussed in detail.
- Familiarize yourself with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
Related: Why Should I Hire An Internship Consultant?
Nicki Sanders, MSW, is a travel and cupcake lover with a passion for self-discovery and career development. She has a strong background in developing and managing interns and successful internship programs. She is an accomplished manager, professor, coach, trainer, and group facilitator who has packaged her Master of Social Work degree and 20 years of diverse work experience into Packaged For Success, a full service training and professional development company.
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