The Value of Internships
There's much to be said for getting fantastic workers for free or at a fraction of the cost but people have to remember, and honour, that these are suppose to be reciprocal arrangements and interns are not gophers or the top elite slumming for some fun; when you get an intern 'worth their salt' , make sure you spice up their career life.
Internships are fast becoming a company's way to get their communications plans done specifically through social media but what's happening is that, seen as a cheap or no-cost method to achieving success (meaning more profit), businesses are not learning how to operate the social media themselves. Throw in a lack of attention to identifying and developing the interns' career needs and you can see why the employment site CanadianCareers.com prefaces their list of internship positions with the words, "There are lots of internships out there but some of the good ones are a little hard to find."
Personally, I think just about every project I work on could do with an intern but truthfully, I don't have the time to train AND to learn and so I must limit the number of people I bring on. Usually, I'm looking for the best and brightest who can self-manage with little direction. I'm good at strategy, planning and development and I need people who can 'run with it' when I say 'Go'. I give them mentorship, access to my networks and I try to help them get full-time jobs as the internships are winding down. I realize that I am like every other employer; we all want the same things in these types of employees but are we willing to give enough to get them?
When I was younger, 'internships' were summer jobs, work/study research projects funded through the universities and financial aid or working in some relatives office for minimum wage and really feeling like the 'hired help' (not valued). It's a shame that many businesses are continuing to do this, because nowadays, interns have skills that we don't and if we don't train and challenge them, they'll walk away with a 'good riddance' attitude and the businesses? Big loss.
Modern business means relationships. It means valuing people for what they put in and having the humility to admit that someone who is more than half one's age could probably run the business cheaper and more effectively but they just don't know how.
What we teach is the context, the specifics of product development or service delivery and the cycles of business. You can only get that through experience, so make sure that the best and brightest are lining up to get their experience with you. Become the best and brightest facilitator of interns. As long as you keep your end of the bargain, you'll get 'opening night sell-out crowd attendance' and the benefits will be measurable. And maybe, they just might recommend you on facebook. Likes!
