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. 

                If you are a small business owner and you want to get an intern, then you are already on the right track to growing and expanding your business. Unlike larger, more established businesses, small business owners don’t have a human resources department that can help create an internship program. To further complicate the matter, most small business owners are so busy that they don’t think they have the time to manage an intern even if they got one.  Internships come in many different forms, but there are certain steps that everyone must take to ensure that the internship is a valuable experience for both the employer and the student. In this article, we are going to cover the legal issues surrounding internships, how to effectively structure the internship program, and some quick tips on how to mentor and manage an intern.

                Before you start hiring interns, you are going to want to seek the advice of your attorney to make sure the internship opportunity is in accordance with the Department of Labor’s (DOL) regulations. The DOL outlines the legal requirements for compensation that distinguishes between an intern and an employee. If you plan on hiring interns for paid positions, then you shouldn’t have too much to worry about with legal issues. However, if you plan on hiring interns for unpaid positions or offering to help them receive academic credit, then you need to be extremely careful when designing the internship. The debate about unpaid internships is currently a very hot topic, so you should always consult your legal representative before you create an internship program.

                Once the legal requirements are out of the way, you can create an internship program. One of the biggest things colleges look for when approving employers to offer internships is honesty in the job description. Many small business owners try to get an intern to help relieve them of some of their busy work, like filing or organizing mail. Most colleges will instantly deny a request like this because they want their students to get real world experience related to their major.  A good rule for employers to follow is to have the intern spend no less than 75% of their time working on real projects. If you don’t have a ton of work for the intern on a particular day, you can always let the intern sit in on meetings and conferences.  This may sound trivial to you, but it can be a major learning experience for the intern. Structuring your internship to be learning based will be mutually beneficial to both you and the intern. You get an intern to help you on your projects and an extra set of ears in case you miss anything from meetings. At the same time, the intern gets to work on real projects and gain professional experience.

                One of the top reasons that small business owners say they don’t hire interns is because they don’t think they have enough time to manage an intern. However, the amount of productivity that an intern can bring to a small business is worth the time to get an intern. By giving feedback and guiding the intern in the right direction, you can make sure that you are receiving high quality work. Many companies hire interns with the end goal that when they graduate they will be able to be promoted to a full time position. By being a good mentor, you can establish a professional relationship with the intern and understand their capabilities better than you ever could through an interview.