Small and large companies alike benefit from having summer interns be a part of a team. Not only are they great additions to easing some the office work load but their opinions are valuable. What’s more when you hire the right interns you might end up growing your batch of promising entry-level employees. Studies show that more than half of interns hired by companies are still working for those same companies five years later.
At the same time, business owners have to be very careful about using unpaid interns as free labor. Meaning, business owners have to make sure that their internship program–paid or unpaid–complies with labor laws.
[Related: 5 Things Your Need To Know: Hiring Interns]
Interns can be a great asset to your business as long as you are available for constant support. Â So, what is the one best tip for training summer interns as seamlessly and quickly as possible? That was the question posed to members of the You
ng Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free, virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses. The following are their responses:
Plan Ahead
“Have a plan and lay it out clearly before they begin. Copying interns on emails prior to their start date has proven to be helpful. Also, ensure they have someone to shadow so they can hit the ground running. ”
Make Everything Transparent
“Provide interns with complete transparency on company initiatives, even if it doesn’t relate to their job spec or day to day tasks. I’ve found companies hold back on what they share with interns. But if you provide the same level of transparency you provide employees, interns tend to learn quicker, feel more tied into the organization and empowered to work harder on their projects.”
Have Them Write the Training Program
“We have had over 300 interns go through our program. To do this easily, you have to train the first intern and have their only job be to write up everything you taught them. Then have the second and third intern go through it and correct it with you. By the fourth, you have a perfect intern training manual.”
Vanessa Van Edwards
Science of People
Give Them Homework
“Before our interns start, we ask them to familiarize themselves with certain topics. That way, when they start, they have a good understanding of what tasks they will have and what they are expected to do.”
Michael Quinn
Yellow Bridge Interactive
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