4 Tips to Make Your Internship Program Great for You and Your Intern

Internship season is upon us. Wuzzuf’s internship program is a great place for companies to find great help during the summer season here in Egypt. 

These programs are a great way for companies to bring in new talent with fresh perspectives, often leading to full-time career opportunities within the company. Internships have an end-date, so if your intern is doing great work and you have a budget for new employees, hire them. But, if your intern isn’t up to the standards of your company, you’re not obligated to keep them, simply part ways at the end of their time with you.

To make an internship program beneficial for both employer and intern, employers should ensure their interns gain real-world experience to supplement their classroom learnings – and the trade-off, of course, is employers receive help on tasks that have been put to the side, and also to gain a fresh perspective from a student learning current industry trends and practices.

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Here are 4 tips that will make your Internship program a win-win situation for you and your intern:

According to WayUp’s State of College Hiring Report, more than 73 percent of 50,000 college students prioritize opportunities for career advancement when looking for an internship.

If you can hire entry-level positions, be open to hiring your intern at the end of their time with you, should a position become available. If there isn’t room in the company budget for growth, craft your internship program to include tasks relevant to real-world industry work, so the intern leaves with marketable experience and knowledge they can put on their resumes.

If an intern is still in school, consider hiring them back each summer – the more time they spend with your company, the better they will be as entry-level employees. Each summer, you can trust them with more detailed tasks. The better you train them, the more likely they are to spread positive views about your company.

On average, 16 percent of new hires are already connected with someone who works at the company where they are hired, according to a recent study by LinkedIn.

If traditional compensation is not possible due to budget constraints, one of the most valuable resources a company can offer its interns in exchange for their hard work is a letter of recommendation when it’s time to apply for full-time work, or the opportunity to connect with other professionals in their industry.

The connections they meet may lead them to their next job. If you see that your intern has done great work, make sure you offer to give them a referral when they need it.

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By providing networking opportunities, your business can gain the trust and loyalty of your interns. If after an internship, you hire them for a full-time position, by providing these opportunities, you are already on the fast track to developing happy, loyal employees – which in turn, helps you in any future employee referral program.

About 57 percent of students emphasized the importance of work/life balance in an internship in WayUp’s Survey Report. After all, along with doing their duties as an intern, many students are also taking classes at the same time.

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Try being flexible with work hours and give them the ability to work remotely for certain tasks that don’t require them to be in the office. Each intern will have different needs according to their work and school schedules. 

According to a recent study published by Science Daily, employees who participated in a pilot work flexibility program voiced higher levels of job satisfaction and reduced levels of burnout and psychological stress than employees within the same company who did not participate.

Less stress and burnout means higher retention and positive brand loyalty.

There’s no reason to let a great candidate you trained go and work for one of your competitors.

Give strong candidates an opportunity to freelance for you so your company stays top of mind. Stay connected through social media, or invite them regularly to company events and celebrations, so that when a full-time position opens you can reach out to see if they are interested. 

 Interns are looking for mentors and guidance as they make their way into “the real world.” Help them transition by becoming their mentor both on and off the job. 

The whole point of hiring interns is the chance to build your future workforce, today. Even if you don’t have any open positions to offer now, make the best use out of this experience and don’t miss the chance to hire a good candidate that you already trained.