Most of us have had an internship, fellowship, or some type of opportunity that allowed us to gain professional experiences and networking opportunities. I had my first internship at 16, working for an outsourced human resources firm. While most of my peers were working jobs at fast food restaurants or shopping malls, I considered myself very fortunate to have an opportunity to go to a pristine skyrise office in a wealthy suburb, dressed in business attire. Getting such an early start to learning professionalism etiquette would have a major impact on my life’s trajectory and I still practice many of the lessons I learned to this day. I’ll never forget being trained on how to answer the phone. The CEO overheard me one day and told me that how I was doing it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t up to the company standards. He said that I had a nice smile and people should hear me smiling through my voice and that I was often the first representation of the company when people call. So although I was just answering phones he helped me connect the greater importance of what it meant to the company, and he gave me personal training on how to do it.
There have also been some very difficult days as an intern. Times when I wanted to badly to speak up about something, but didn’t feel safe or welcome to do so. The company culture had more of a just do but don’t speak type of feel. I would journal about these things and vowed that if I were ever in a position to ever 1. Have significant influence over a company’s culture and/or 2. Be able to directly manage an intern myself I would remember to give them an amazing experience. Fortunately, I was granted that opportunity to manager others including interns, and although I didn’t always get it right I made an extra effort to keep good on my word. And to this day I have great relationships with many interns that have worked with me in the past. They reach out to me for recommendations, stop by to see me, send me holiday cards, etc. And I’m proud to have served as a mentor for these students. The idea that I may have had an opportunity to be a mentor to a student and influenced their professional outlook is as equally as gratifying, if not more, as when I was 16 and was personally coached by my company’s CEO.
Each summer break or winter break thousands of interns will flock to your organizations in hopes of also finding meaningful internships, fellowships, apprenticeships, or externships. They will be high school students, university and graduate student, and mid-career adults. Maximizing the internship experience is not just beneficial for the intern but for our organizations and our nation’s human capital development. Here are five things to consider as your company and its people prepare to receive interns.
Start putting them with experienced managers
Upper level management may believe they don’t have time to invest in interns.As a result they are often managed by inexperienced managers or even those not in management at all.Unless those managing an intern have gone through leadership or management training, this could be a very difficult experience for the intern.Interns need to be mentored, coached, and have someone they can look up to or whom they aspire to be help them in their journey.I once had a Fellowship where my boss was hired one week before me.When I showed up on the job, I had very practical questions like, “What am I supposed to accomplish in the 10 weeks that I have here? “What are the most immediate goals and objectives for this project?” “What would success look like by the time I leave?” He had no answers to any of these.So finally I ended with, “What am I supposed to do ?”Still no clear answer.My boss was inexperienced; he was still trying to get his bearings straight and he was trying to figure out these own questions for himself.He was building he play while trying to fly it at the same time and certainly couldn’t guide me in the right direction.I had to create a job for myself and spent 10 weeks trying to make sure I made myself relevant.
Start giving them meaningful projects
When I was compiling research for this article, of course I asked my friends and colleagues to think of thinks they would change, if they could, about their internship experiences.Without fail, the first response from each and every one of them was get rid of the grunt work.As I listened to their stories, I understood that maybe the issue is not to get rid of grunt work but rather to supplement it with something bigger.Making coffee, stapling papers, printing handouts, or ordering the lunch for big meetings are necessary in organizations.But interns are still humans and the human spirit yearns for fulfillment and reaching self-efficacy. Administrative and tedious task won’t go away with internships but try to ensure interns are involved in at least 1-2 projects where they can learn or apply a special skill.
Start including them in high level meetings and events
Once, I had an internship with the city attorney’s office and she took me on a deposition! What a phenomenal experience to have. Observing professionals are great for individual professional growth; hopefully we’re demonstrating great character for them. However, in the case of really sensitive meetings, be sure to set expectations ahead of time. When I went to that deposition, I knew my role was to learn, observe and use integrity in confidentiality of what I saw or heard. I was not to give ideas or speak out of turn. I knew this wasn’t one of those condescending be seen not heard cultural norms. I didn’t yet have the proper experience and training and if I started blabbing I could have really done some damage. I got to share my thoughts and reflections with my boss when we got in the car. She listened intently and I felt great. There was also a time when I worked for an organization and they had a huge company fundraising gala. I spent two months working relentlessly behind the scenes helping to prepare for the event (the grunt work), but was so excited to get dressed up and participate in the big day. I found out the week of, that I was not allowed or invited to the event because I was an intern. When I was managing a team, I made sure our intern was present in weekly meetings, team retreats, and strategic planning workshops. They mostly took meeting minutes but they got to understand the dynamics of how teams work, making group decisions, handling dissenting ideas, brainstorming and more. I was elated when one intern came back to visit me and told me about how she used similar strategies to lead group meetings for the college organizations for which she was involved.
Start compensating them
Internships shouldn’t be synonymous with free labor.There are many perks to the intern should as gaining experience, mentorship, skills, networking, and the list goes on.But interns are also people with bills, tuition, and other living expenses.Interns are also providing work to help the company meet its business needs and should be compensated for it.Compensation can come in creative ways, they don’t have to receive a prorated salary or even an hourly position.My senior year in college I had an internship in London.I knew that my internship was unpaid.I received course credit for my work, but still, the company reimbursed me for my monthly Tube (subway) pass and I gave me free products (I worked for a high end cologne company).I wasn’t expecting anything but when they offered, it made me feel all the more appreciated.Needless to say everyone got expensive cologne for Christmas that year.So even if it isn’t in the company budget to add an intern to the pay roll consider things like a gas cards, discount on products, free professional development training, paying for their lunch occasionally, or small stipend just to show appreciation.
Treating your interns well is an investment in America’s human capital or even your own organizations talent pool. Interns bring a unique skills set and talent to an organization. Interns play a very valuable role in an organization’s success.I have seen interns create technology platforms to help organization manage their operations, come up with creative marketing campaigns to raise lots of money for non-profits, lead professional development trainings (i.e. how to acquire clients via social media), and many great things.The one thing that allowed them to bring their skills to help the organization is that they were given a chance to do so.
How about you? Do you have any interesting internship stories or tips for how to cultivate a meaningful intern program?
(Photo Credits: Getty Images)
