The point of an internship is for the student to work at a temporary position and get on-the-job training and experience. While the employer gets the benefit of cheap or free labor, an internship can’t last forever. Typically, an internship program will last the length of the academic institution’s semester or quarter. The majority of universities operate on a semester system where each semester will last between about 14 and 16 weeks. The fall semester will normally begin in August or September and run through the beginning of December while the spring semester will begin in January or February and run through May or June. The majority of schools will also offer a summer term that last about 10-12 weeks in length. It is important to note that if you hire an intern during the fall or spring semesters, it will normally only be a part time position because the student also needs to balance their academic life.
It is important to figure out the starting/ending dates of each semester at the university you choose because you will normally want to plan a few weeks ahead to hire an intern. If you plan on offering an internship for academic credit then you also need to take into account the dates for the students to register for classes. This is because students need to register for an actual class if they want to receive academic credit for their internship. For example, if you wanted to post an internship in the spring for academic credit, then you would need to do so before the spring class registration period end.
Knowing the length of a typical internship at a university lasts will also help you when you are designing the internship program. This way when you hire an intern, you will be able to gauge how much work the intern will be able to do for you and incorporate that into the job description. The last thing you want to do is plan on your intern completing a set amount of work and then realize that the internship won’t last long enough for it to be completed.
As a small business owner, hiring interns does come with some important responsibilities. But don’t worry; these responsibilities are minor when compared to the amazing benefits that come with hiring interns. Some of the top responsibilities include making sure the internship is set in a learning environment, keeping in contact with the intern’s university, and writing a post-internship evaluation.
When hiring interns, it’s always important to see things through the eyes of the intern as well as from your point of view as the small business owner. In addition to being able to put real world experience down on their resume, the main reason students take internships is to learn. When you hire an intern, you are responsible for maintaining a learning environment. This means being open to answering any questions they have and guiding them in the right direction on projects and assignments. Having a learning environment really sets the tone of the internship and makes it enjoyable for the intern to show up to work every day and help your small business succeed.
Another responsibility you take on when you hire an intern is the responsibility to keep in contact with the intern’s school. Many small business owners think that after they hire an intern they are done with the university until the end, but this is not the case. From the school’s point of view, they want to make sure that things are running smoothly and the intern is fulfilling the duties listed in your job description. Some schools will go as far as to make on site visits to your place of business, while others will just want to email back and forth during the internship to make sure things are ok. We recommend emailing or calling your internship coordinator every now and then to discuss the internship because it helps your small business form a strong relationship with the university.
In most internship programs you will also be required to fill out a post-internship evaluation form. When filling out this form, it is always important to be honest. Many small business owners will only state the positives about the intern instead of the negatives. This approach actually hurts the intern because it doesn’t give them anything to work on and improve.
As you can see, hiring interns does come with responsibilities. It may seem easy to maintain a learning environment, keep in contact with the school, and fill out an evaluation form, but these are actually very important and can mean the difference between a good and bad internship program. If you have any questions or comments about your responsibilities when you hire an intern make sure to post them in the comments section and we will be glad to answer them. If we get enough feedback we’ll post a more in depth second part of this article…maybe legal responsibilities????
Many small business owners don’t know how to hire an intern. They are great with running the business and dealing with clients, but when it comes to hiring interns they just don’t have the time or knowledge of what to do. Some of the steps that most small business owners get tripped up on are writing a winning job description, figuring out how and where to post the job description, and screening candidate resumes once they have interns applying. If you can get these three steps right, you can be hiring interns for your small business in no time.
The problem with writing a job description for a small business internship is that the intern will probably be working all over the place instead of just one area like marketing for example. Many schools are actually fine with broad ranging internships because it will introduce the intern to a wide variety of work experience. The key is to be as detailed as possible with your job description. You should explain things like: what the learning outcomes for the intern will be, the type of work the intern will be doing, and why you are hiring interns and how they will benefit your company.
There are many options when it comes to posting your internship opportunity. Some small business owners choose to post their internships on mass posting sites like NACElink, UCAN, or LACN. This strategy is good because it makes sure that you are going to receive a large applicant pool. Another popular strategy that many small business owners use is to post their internships to individual schools. Many small business owners hire interns this way because it lets them control the quality and type of students at can apply. It’s also very rewarding when you can hire interns from your alma mater.
The final step in hiring interns is to screen through all of the resumes. If you wrote a really good job description and followed an effective job posting strategy then you should be receiving a large number of applicants. The standard approach that many small business owners take is to separate resumes into three separate piles for yes, no, and maybes. We like to take our resume screening process one step further and add a resume screening tool. A resume screening tool can be something simple like a requirement to write a cover letter or a small about me paragraph. What you are looking for here is not the best cover letter ever, but the ability for the intern to follow directions. This extra little step helps insure that the best students are applying for your position.
Every small business owner should look into hiring interns because it is an extremely effective way to help grow and expand your business. When writing your job description, always remember to be as detailed and honest as possible. Next, choose the job posting strategy that will allow you to hire the best interns for your small business. Finally, add in an extra little resume screening tool to make sure you are receiving high quality applicants.
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