Internship, a wonderful and effective way to connect your academic experience with the professional work, is something what graduates look for as soon as they finish their academic life. It is a known fact that internships are the most effective way for students to gain work experience before graduation.
Also, if hired correctly, interns can contribute to the organization to a large extent. How can we hire the right candidate for internship programs? The following points can provide answer to the question:
Outline a Clear Job Description
Developing a clear job description is a critical part of any recruitment process. Clarify all the tasks the interns are to perform during their internship period so that there won’t be any confusion later. Also specify if the internship is paid or unpaid. Job description always helps you keep within the law.
Develop Customized Interview Questions
While interviewing interns to throw away standard interview questions and replace them with calls “show me” questions, where everything is about having the intern show them something they’ve done and explain why.
“Let’s say that a web development intern is coming from ABC College and he or she is a IT student, give him a bug to try to find in your code and then ask them to explain how they found that bug.”
Provide Proper Guidelines from Day One
Set out very clear guidelines for day to day work and office culture. From day one, communicate things such as dress codes, office times, Social Media usage during work hours, etc. Don't wait until there is a problem.
Involve in Real Projects
The objective of an internship is to teach the interns how the real corporate world operates. If you are just having sort out the filing cabinet or print/photocopy the required documents, they’ll surely get demotivated. Involve them in activities such as have them accompany you on a sales call. Introduce them to clients as an intern working at your organization.
Indulge them in Various Types of Tasks
It is NOT necessary that you always provide them with interesting & challenging tasks. It is perfectly OK to provide them tasks that might be boring but necessary. But the main point is, the focus should be on things that will help prepare them for the work force.
Provide Feedback
Provide continuous feedback on their performance. Let them know what was good and what was not so good about the project assigned to them. This doesn't mean you turn into a nagging supervisor. You just need to make sure your intern knows precisely how she's doing and where she needs to improve.
Do Not Consider Grades While Hiring
You may be tempted to hire someone with good grades but good grades don't tell everything about the person. Instead, look for someone who loves your field and has enthusiasm and is likely to want to grow in your organization in the future.
