Hiring Interns for Small and Medium size Businesses

Hiring Interns for Small and Mid-size Businesses

How internship programs can help you elevate your business

Enabling employees to move up the value chain	New Outlook & Energy	New Outlook & Energy
Internship frees up existing employees from the more ‘admin’ type tasks thereby allowing them more time to focus on activities that add more value to the business. At the same time, interns get hands-on experience of working in the business world through learning and performing activities which were previously being done by the more experienced resources within the organization.	Interns provide a fresh perspective on work or projects- a novel and sometimes “out of box” solutions that regular employees may not be able to come up with. Young and diverse interns bring such vibrancy to the team culture as well. Positive energy and positive work culture.	Having interns from diverse backgrounds/nationalities/geographies has great advantages- this diversity brings a unique way of looking at problems and devising innovative solutions.

How you can recruit Interns for your company

Universities Look at Universities (locally and International) and make a shortlist of the ones you want to hire interns from, based on the objectives of your Internship programs. Most universities have a department to support internship programs. This department is responsible for being the single point of contact for any Internship related queries and will also ensure that end-to-end recruitment process is routed through it.
	Recruitment Agencies There are agencies that are specialized in hiring Interns for companies and they function in the same way as a recruitment agency works. The advantage these agencies will have is that they will save the time of the recruitment process that the hiring manager would otherwise have to go through, if you chose not to hire directly from Universities.
Word-of-Mouth The power of word-of-mouth publicity should be valued and companies should reap the benefits that it may bring in through interested student interns.
	Referrals A company should strive to stay connected with its Interns even after the projects are over. Internships are a great way to showcase your company and its work culture, and Interns can be great promoters of your company.

What steps a business should take for integrating internship programs into Company’s processes

Database Creation

Once the recruitment process for interns has been successfully created, ensure that there is a database created where all the information regarding Internships is maintained on a constant basis. This will include University details, Internship timelines, application process details and other requirements as asked by the universities.

Incorporation into the Company

a) The company has to ensure that team members fully understand the intern's role. The interns are hired to contribute to the growth of your business by under-taking special non-routine projects.They should not be given the grunt work only, such as creating excel sheets or managing a lot of paperwork only.

b) The company should see to it that the Interns are involved in projects that have the potential of being eventually integrated into the company operations, budget dependent.

Management

Each intern should have a Manager or Supervisor. This person guides the intern throughout the project and will be the one-point contact for all project related questions. This manager or supervisor should also have the added responsibility of ensuring that the Intern is being integrated into the company or the team during the tenure of the project.

Clarity

Interns should have complete clarity of the projects they are involved in with exact timelines. That allows them to gauge what a project will look like, and they can prepare themselves accordingly. Also, a timeline helps the manager work better with the intern- catch ups, performance checks, updates on project movement. etc.

Post-internship

Always strive to be in touch with all your past interns, once they have completed their internships with you and returned home. For exceptional interns a company might want to offer a PPO to try to capture great talent before it gets snapped up elsewhere. Once a PPO is issued, a company should stay in touch with the intern and keep a track of his/her academic growth and excellence and interests.

Published by Mosaic Solutions

May 2023