Justin Harrison

Hiring an intern is a wonderful way for a business to accomplish several goals.  Hiring an intern helps a business give back to the community and provide a learning environment for students.  Hiring an intern is an excellent way to accomplish some of those tasks that never seem to get done. Hiring an intern is also a good way to ‘test drive’ the concept of hiring a full time employee.  The trick of course is to find that intern that meets your business goals.  This is why advertising for an intern is so important. 

Here is how to get it accomplished quickly, easily, and accurately:

Step One: Decide what your goal is for hiring an intern.  Are you seeking to give back to the community and help a student learn your industry?  Are you looking to get some of those nagging tasks completed once and for all or are you considering bringing on full time staff and want to try an intern first?

Step Two: Begin with local resources.  Make a list of the educational centers, colleges, and universities within a twenty to thirty mile radius of your business.  Pay attention to the specialties of the schools.  For example if you own and operate a dropshipping business then a creative school may not meet your needs – unless of course much of the extra tasks you need accomplished revolve around web design, logos and the like. 

Step Three: Choose two or three institutions whose programs closely match you’re the tasks you’re hiring for or your industry.  Sometimes a simple business school or program works best for entry level internships. 

Step Four: Contact the institution to see if they have an internship department. Sometimes universities or colleges will help you set up your internship so that the student also receives college credit for the work they do. 

Step Five: Ask the university or college about the best means for reaching qualified students.  Occasionally they have a publication they send out to enrolled students advertising opportunities.  You may also want to advertise in the local paper.

Step Six:  What to include in the advertisement?  Potential interns will want to know:

• Compensation – how much are you going to pay them per hour?  Do they receive any college credit for the position?
• Weekly hours – will you require them to be there 9-5 Monday through Friday?  Are the hours flexible?  Is it part-time?  Full-time? 
• Duties and responsibilities – what tasks will they be performing?
• Industry – What does your company do?

Step Seven:  Before the calls start coming in from interested students, make sure you have a list of your requirements for the job prepared.  It’ll help you screen and ultimately hire the person that is best for the job. 

Hiring an intern is much like hiring a full time employee.  You want someone who will fit into the company culture, who will work hard, who has good communication skills, who’s motivated to learn and who will be enjoyable to work with.  Interns have the potential to become future full time employees so it is always best to proceed with the hiring process, beginning with the advertisement of the position, in a professional manner.