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.


 
                                                     Internship Hire, Intern, Internship, Hiring, Hire, Find, Finding, Employ

InternProfits wants to help business owners currently looking to start their very own internship program! A question we sometimes come across is how many interns can my company have at once?

After viewing this video you will gain a better understanding of the amount of interns your company can utilize at once. The main focus relies on the amount of Interns your company can successfully manage on a daily basis. If this is not a concern, then the sky is the limit!

If these are some of the questions you currently have about starting an internship program  then this video should be very helpful. Don’t forget to visit our site to "Discover How Businesses All Across America Are Growing & Expanding By Having College Interns Work For Them"
 
The traditional way that small business owners do a background check when hiring interns is to ask for past references. Then they call up your old boss and ask him/her a few questions about when you worked there 2-3 years ago. Yea your boss remembers you but it’s been a while since you worked there so the best they can do is give general answers like, “He was a hard worker” or, “She was very motivated.” Does this really provide any value to your new employer? No! Those responses could have been about anyone because they said nothing specific about who you are or what you did. Ladies and Gentleman, the old way of giving recommendations is dead! Hiring interns using the old method is really tough, which is why in this article you’re going to learn how we give killer recommendations that actually work!

 

                The biggest thing that sets our recommendations apart from 99 percent of other small businesses is that we take the time to shoot a quick video. This way, our interns will always have a great recommendation from us that they can host on their YouTube channel and show future employers. There is no need for employers to play phone tag trying to get in touch with us, and we don’t have to try and remember all the past accomplishments of our interns.

 

                Whenever you are shooting a recommendation video for an intern you want to remember to be as specific as possible. We will say things like, “John exceed expectations on project A which directly affected our small business in these ways…” From a small business owner’s point of view a recommendation like that can go a long way. Obviously not every intern is going to be a superstar, but you can always find something good to say about how they improved over the course of the internship or how they were really good at time management. The key here is to refer to specific examples where the intern shined and include numbers or percentages where appropriate.

 

                We are in the internet age so we better start taking advantage of it. The benefits of video recommendations outweigh the traditional phone call in every category. They can be hosted on the internet so your interns always have them and it looks really professional when they are able to show their new employer a personal video from their boss. Your interns will also strive to exceed expectation when they know that they are going to be rewarded with such a great recommendation at the end. As long as you remember to be as specific as possible and site examples you will be giving your interns killer recommendations in no time. 
 
Intern Profits  is a website that shows business owners how they can hire interns to work for their company. This is the sixth video in a series that updates entrepreneurs and small business owners on the various tasks that an intern can do for them.

Mike the intern explains how the Intern Profits with a training video small business owners can give to their interns to help establish an internet presence for their small business. However, this video covers so much information that Mike decided to create a supplementary social SEO training course that answers almost any question your interns will ever have about implementing social SEO in your small business. Mike also explains how this supplementary social SEO training course has helped to automate many of their business process.



Check out our site to learn how you too can hire interns to automate your small business processes and implement social SEO to establish an internet presence for your small business. At InternProfits, we provide entrepreneurs the tools and resources to find, hire and manage interns to help grow and expand their business while creating educational opportunities for tomorrow's talent today. Discover how your small business can hire interns to automate your business processes today.



If you want to learn how you can quickly grow and expand your small business by utilizing the power of interns then head over to our site to learn more.
 
With so many students out there looking for internships and experience, it certainly should not be that hard to find an intern. You can easily find an intern in places like Craigs’s list or by running an ad in your local newspaper, but the quality of applicants will not be that high. At InternProfits, we personally like to approach colleges and universities as we find them to be the best places to find the highest caliber interns. To begin, you need to identify the school or schools that you want to approach. If you attended a trade/vocational school or college/university, it is normally a good idea to start your search there. We suggest hiring interns from your Alma matter because having a common interest with your intern is always a good start to an internship. Being an alumni may also help you when speaking to the intern coordinators at the school because it is a natural way for you to build rapport with that person and quickly and easily establish credibility for your business.

 

If you didn’t attend a trade/vocational school or college/university, then you might want to focus on hiring interns from schools that are geographically close to your small business. While it is not important to find an intern that can physically come to your place of business, it might be nice for you to be able to meet up with prospective interns for interviews or to network with the school’s coordinators. Another option that many small businesses choose to do is hire virtual interns from well known educational institutions. A virtual internship is a situation where the intern works out of their own home or office and communicates with you over the internet on a daily/weekly basis. Normally computer science, journalism, or internet marketing students will opt to take virtual internships. Virtual internships are starting to become a very hot trend because it gives employers an almost unlimited pool of high quality applicants.

 

Our biggest suggestion outside of hiring interns from your Alma matter would be to search for a school that offers majors in the area you are looking for an intern. For example, not every school offers a computer science and software development program to their students. If you are looking for an intern to help with your computer systems, then it would be best to find a university that offers those types of classes. 
 
One of the best questions to ask when undertaking this process is whether or not you should pay your intern? Well, the truth is you will find plenty of interns willing to work for free, however there are many reasons why you should also consider paying your interns.

After viewing this video you will gain a better understanding of many reasons interns are willing to work for free, and the advantages they can gain by choosing this option. You will also learn of the advantages of starting a paid internship, and the caliber of individuals you can expect by choosing this method. 
 
                Lately, there has been a lot of buzz about the ethics behind hiring interns for unpaid positions. If you decide that you want to hire interns for unpaid positions then you must be able to pass the Department of Labor’s test for unpaid interns. However, if you decide that you want reward your interns for their work, then there are many more ways to pay them instead of just a salary. Some of the best alternative payment methods that many small business owners use are bonuses, perks, and training.

 

                Sometimes when we hire interns, we decide to pay them with bonuses. Bonuses are a great incentive for the intern to work hard because they are tied to performance. The best part about bonuses is that they can be molded to any industry. If you are in real estate, then you can decide to give the intern a percentage of all of the real estate deals they worked on or closed. Another example would be giving the intern a percentage of the sales in a product launch. The main thing about giving bonuses is that they must be attainable. Giving an intern an unreachable goal and calling it a bonus is misleading to both the intern and the school and could get your small business in trouble.

 

                Perks are a great form of payment because they provide valuable learning experiences for the intern. Sometimes when we hire interns, we will pay them with perks like inviting them to (and paying for) industry dinners or seminars. Interns love attending professional events for the experience, but they also feel like they are a valuable part of your small business. Another example of a perk could be paying for the intern’s transportation and parking.

 

                Training and development is also a great form of payment. When hiring interns, we often make it clear that they will receive outside training from a third party to help their professional development. It is important to make a distinction between training that benefits the intern at your job and training that they can take with them through future endeavors. Whenever you use training as a reward for your interns, you want to make sure it will be something that will benefit them even after their internship is over.  

 

                When hiring interns you should remember that there are many non monetary forms of payment that you can give your interns. If you can’t afford paying your interns a salary, we suggest using a mix of bonuses, perks, and training to compensate and reward your interns for their efforts. The more value you provide your intern in exchange for their work, the more beneficial the internship experience will be for both the intern and your small business. 
 
Are you a business owner ready to take the next step in creating an internship program, but confused as to where you can start looking for interns? Many business owners are unaware of the fact that internship job boards are regularly provided by many colleges and universities today. Our belief is that the best talent can be found by using these internship job boards to your advantage

 After viewing this video you will gain a better understanding of the best places to find high caliber, motivated interns to expand your business, such as colleges or universities. We will also discuss other areas in which you could seek interns, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of this method. 



 
If you’re looking into starting your own internship program for your small business, you may have some questions about what an internship program is and what distinguishes it from other forms of employment. Internships are similar to apprenticeships in that the intern works in a temporary position with an emphasis on on-the-job training. Your typical intern is usually a college or university student, but they can also be high school students or post graduate adults seeking skills for a new career. Some of the benefits of an internship program are that they provide students with opportunities to gain experience in their field, determine if they have an interest in a particular career, create a network of contacts, or gain school credit. From a small business owner’s standpoint, internships provide the businesses with cheap or free labor for typically low level tasks. As an added bonus, many employers decide to hire back their interns after they graduate because they require little or no training.

Internships may be paid, unpaid, or partially paid. A partially paid internship could include a stipend, bonuses, or benefits. Typically, internships in the medical, architecture, engineering, law, business, technology, and advertising fields will be paid positions. This is because these students are in high demand and can demand competitive rates. Internships in non-profit organizations such as charities and think tanks are often unpaid, volunteer positions. For many schools, the act of job shadowing may also constitute as interning because the student is receiving professional experience.

Internships can be either part time or full time positions. Students will typically take part time internships during the school year so they can balance their work and academic lives. However, during the summer, most students search for full time internships. The length of an internship also varies depending on the school and time of the year. During the school year, an internship will normally last about 1 semester or trimester and over the summer and internship could last anywhere between 6-12 weeks.

An intern is generally your typical student, 18-22 years old, single, with no children. However, nontraditional students also desire internships and the diversity of backgrounds they bring is a definite plus for your small business. In a nutshell, an internship program formally integrates a student’s academic studies with relevant work experience. 
 
Many small business owners decide to outsource their work to off shorevirtual assistants or off shore workers. This can be a very effective strategy and to be honest, we also use off shorevirtual assistants in our business. However, there are 3 main problems that we have found with off shorevirtual assistants. Hiring interns instead of off shore virtual assistants solves all 3 of them.

                The first big problem that we find with off shorevirtual assistants is the time zone issue. Many of your off shore virtual assistants are going to be located in other countries like India, Pakistan, or the Philippines which means they are about 10-15 hours ahead of us in their time zone. This can make things very frustrating or challenging if you need to do things like a live chat or phone call. In both cases, someone needs to really adjust their schedule which can be very inconvenient especially if you are a busy small business owner.

                The second challenge that we encounter a lot when working with off shore virtual assistants is the language barrier. Many off shore virtual assistants actually speak very good English, but there are still problems in two big areas. The first area is when they need to interact with your customers. Sometimes customers will get frustrated when they know they are speaking to an off shore call center. The other big area is if they are doing writing for you. Many times, the technical way they were taught English doesn’t always translate over to normal written or spoken English in America.

                The third major challenge is that many of these emerging countries don’t always have the best internet reliability. The technology isn’t as advanced, so sometimes the internet can be down for multiple days in a row. In our business, we have had situations where a storm came in and we weren’t able to get in touch with our virtual assistant for 3-4 days.

                Interns are definitely different from off shorevirtual assistants because they are able to solve all of these problems. At most, the highest difference in time zones is going to be 3 hours from the east coast to the west coast, so you’re always going to be able to get in touch with each other. Interns are college educated students that speak really good English and can easily interact with your customers. Finally, the internet reliability in America is fantastic and if worst comes to worst they can always go down to their local coffee shop for free WiFi. In a nutshell, hiring interns over virtual assistants is the best way to help grow and expand your small business.