Got an Internship Program? Letís Make it a Great Program!

By Steven Rothberg, President and Founder of CollegeRecruiter.com

The days of viewing interns as cheap labor are, thankfully, fading into a distant memory. Todayís leading organizations understand that college recruiting is strategic and the most strategic component of a successful college program is a successful internship program. So what makes an internship program successful?

1. Have a clear purpose Hopefully your purpose isnít to provide a desk and some work experience for the nephew of the CEO or to provide a cheap replacement for the accounts payable specialist who is out on maternity leave. Rather, the purpose of your program should be to recruit great entry level talent who will become your organizationís next generation of leaders. To get there though, you must set and achieve some specific goals so that you can measure whether your program is in fact successful. These goals come down to your objectives. One organization may want to recruit at least one intern from each of 12 schools, extend offers of permanent employment to at least 75 percent of those interns, have at least 50 percent of them convert into permanent employees (not only accept but also report for duty), and for 50 percent of those to still be in positions of leadership in your organization within five years.

2. Integrate with your organization You can create the most dynamic internship program in the world but if it isnít integrated with your overall recruitment and retention strategies then your internship program is doomed to failure. Make sure that you work closely with your hiring managers so that you know how many internship positions you need to hire for and in what areas. Be sure that the job descriptions for those positions are clear, well thought out, and compelling to the students. Remember that they know that theyíre qualified but theyíre going to receive multiple offers. You need to sell them on why they should work for you rather than the employer across the street who is offering the same opportunity.



3. Pick the right schools, programs, and students Recruit the right students from the right programs from the right schools. If youíre hiring car wash managers, forget about recruiting at M.I.T. If youíre a Silicon Valley high tech firm and need software engineers, forget about recruiting at a third rate community college. The first will fail to recruit. The second will fail to retain.

4. Use your stars. Send the right people from your organization to the schools Youíre a recruiter and thatís great. But unless youíre hiring for a position in your department youíre not the person the student wants to talk with. They want to interview with the person who will be their manager and someone who is a year or two ahead of them ñ so send a hiring manager and a recent grad. Invest in your relationship with the college career service office and faculty for it is they who will send to you the best students for your needs and divert the others to employers who can offer a better fit.

5. There is no such thing as a mail room Gone are the days of providing meaningless work to interns as some type of pseudo hazing ritual often referred to as ìpaying your dues.î Candidates who are asked to pay their dues through the completion of meaningful work will eagerly do so. Others will abandon you in favor of your competitors. Do you really want to be creating a pipeline through which the most sought after and therefore least desperate of your interns will leave you and go to work for your competitors?

6. Train and mentor Millennials value education, both in-school and on-the-job. They want to be continually challenged. If you give them a job and look forward to the day when they master it so that you can spend your time elsewhere, then turn the clock forward to 2007. Before they fully master their job, you need to show them their path of progression, which means that they need to progress. If they do the same thing day after day for six months, then theyíll leave you in the seventh month. Train them. Move them from department to department. Assign mentors to them who are not in their chain of command. Satisfy their job hopping tendencies internally or they will satisfy those tendencies externally.

7. Create a network In addition to cross-training them by moving them from department to department, create frequent, regular opportunities for them to meet and learn from peers, superiors, and subordinates from across your organization. These sessions need not be formal and need not have a meticulous agenda. Schedule a brown bag lunch for every Friday and rotate them through your departments so that everyone will be exposed to the challenges and opportunities being faced by others in the organization. Youíll be amazed at how many solutions will come from these sessions and the energy created will be inspiring to all, even to those of us who are Gen Xíers.

8. Create community Those who choose to work for an employer long-term almost always cite the friendships and relationships they have built on the job as the primary reason for staying even though times may be difficult and they could make more money with less stress by leaving. Yet few employers proactively do anything to build community. Host the occasional pizza party, Organize a dinner at a managerís home. Take a cruise on the lake. Create a Facebook site where they can connect, share interests, and be goofy.

9. Feedback, feedback, and more feedback Millennials crave and demand very frequent and detailed feedback. It wasnít all that long ago that some organizations grudgingly instituted annual performance reviews. These tended to be long, drawn out affairs that consumed a massive amount of managerial time. This generation has no use for that process. Get your managers to pull them aside for five minute chats every week. It doesnít matter when. If it works for the manager, then every Friday at 1pm is fine. But it can vary. The point is that the Millennials want to know how theyíre doing. They want encouragement. They want praise. Some have difficulty hearing about areas where theyíre deficient but the truth is refreshing and liberating to many as theyíre tired of hearing how perfect and glorious they are. They know that theyíre good, or at least believe so, but they also know that theyíre not perfect. Be honest. Be transparent. Be real.

10. Make them ambassadors Nothing communicates your appreciation and respect to your interns more than asking them to be ambassadors of your organization when they return to campus. If you want them to be a part of your team, then make them a part of your team right now. Forget the notion that their internship ceases on August 31st and their permanent position commences on June first. There is no and should be no bright line. Transition them from their internship to their permanent position by paying them to represent you on-campus by helping you line up the best possible candidates from the next year for your on-campus interviews, giving you feedback on what youíre doing well and what could be better, meeting with professors and career service office professionals to let them know what they liked and disliked about your program and organization, and more. Just as you would with any other member of your team, communicate with them frequently and regularly. Ask them for their opinions, support, and help. Invite them to your corporate functions. And send them food. Nothing works quite as well with college students as lots of great, fun food.

Steven Rothberg is the President and Founder of CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading job board for college students who are hunting for internships and recent graduates who are searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities. Steven can be reached via email at Steven@CollegeRecruiter.com or via phone at 800-835-4989 x704.