Hiring and Using Interns | How-to Guides for running your business from Business.com

Small businesses across America have long used college student interns and recent grads as a helpful, low-cost human resource. Student interns are capable, motivated and – if well managed – highly valuable to your business. The trick is the "well-managed" part. Small businesses too often hire interns (a.k.a. "emerging professionals") without any kind of plan for making their presence truly productive. Success with interns requires more than just finding the right people. You need a system that fully taps intern capabilities on behalf of your business. Such a system will recognize that:

You should recruit, train and manage interns just as you would full-time employees
An early, strong and consistent emphasis on training will help students handle complex work and produce greater results
Interns can help your other employees be more productive by freeing them to tackle more important projects while interns perform lower level work
Interns can provide your existing employees with an opportunity to gain valuable supervisory experience
Some things interns can do at your business: Identify prospects pursue business leads and write or send press releases. Plan events identify news media for publicity, research advertising placements. Prepare award submissions, do Web research, monitor industry news. Manage or freshen Web site content, assist with presentations, design charts, graphs and posters. Organize files, format business documents -- and recruit the next interns.

Business.com's "What Works for Business" blog is a great way to keep up with the latest solutions, trends and strategies for small and medium business -- such as finding and using low-cost seasonal help.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get a complete internship program package

Intern Toolkit is a complete system that helps businesses design and manage successful internship programs. It offers detailed, step-by-step guidance for planning, recruitment, screening, management and training. Cost is based on business size.

I recommend: Free help at the Intern Toolkit site includes a feasibility test to see if your business is right for an internship program, and a long list of suggested tasks interns can perform (PDF file).

Attract candidates by posting internship positions online

Some internship sites let you post positions for free, others have small per/month charges for a listing.

I recommend: InternshipPrograms.com is a helpful service of the major job site WetFeet.com where you can post internship positions and find interns. Employers can also post internship positions at Internships.com where a month-long listing is $10.

Check intern resumes at online services

Many would-be interns post their resumes at internship job sites. You can search those sites for prospects, profile your own business or post your internship position.

I recommend: InternJobs.com, an AboutJobs.com site, lets employers post internship positions for free. You can also profile your business and search resumes. Other intern job sites include: InternSearch.com, InternWeb.com, PaidInterns.com and Rising Star Internships.

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

Someone must have overall responsibility for your internship program, and be allotted the time and resources to properly manage it.
Take an inventory of substantive work you need done. Ask other employees what tasks an intern could perform - especially those "back burner" things that nobody else has time to complete. Then decide how many interns you need.
School-year interns may be available 15-20 hours per week, while summer interns can often work full time.
Determine if you have adequate workspace with access to computers and other tech tools.
Define specific responsibilities for each intern position. That helps you set accurate expectations and focus your recruiting effort.
Interns need a clear sense of guidance and structure, as they may be in a business for the first time. Schedules, work plans and deadlines will help. Have someone available to answer their questions and offer feedback on their work.
The most successful internships go beyond "on the job" training. Offering interns a more formal orientation and development training will pay dividends in better results.

The official source of Hiring and Using Interns is the Internships page at Business.com

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