07/ 28/ 2008
by Tamara E. Holmes
All small business owners can benefit from cutting costs, but successful businesses also need enough employees on staff to satisfy the needs of customers and make sure the operation's day-to-day needs are met. If your small business is near a college or university, you may be able to kill two birds with one stone by developing an internship program that provides top-rate talent for a discounted price.
A successful internship program can be a win-win situation for college students who are looking for business experience and business owners who are looking for capable and enthusiastic employees. Since interns often receive college credit for work experience, they also cost business owners less money in salary. To make sure an internship program runs as smoothly as possible, consider the following tips.
Find an educational partner. Rather than merely advertising for interns at local colleges, develop an ongoing relationship with the career counseling department of one or two schools in your area. An ongoing internship program increases the odds that your partner schools will stay on the lookout for the best potential candidates. You'll also spend less time and money advertising for the position since the school will steer applicants directly to you. If the school values its relationship with your business, administrators and counselors are also more likely to screen applicants they send your way, cutting down on the work you have to do in the selection process.
Consider different majors. Ideally, you want to match your intern's career goals with your business' objectives, so don't be afraid to forge relationships with faculty in different fields of study. For example, if you are a retailer and you need an intern in the accounting department, find an accounting major. Likewise, if you need someone to help with marketing, look for a student who is planning a career in that field. By giving students experience in the area in which they are pursuing a career, you'll benefit from their natural passion for that area and the internship will be more valuable to them, possibly prompting them to work even harder.
Determine a screening process. While your partner schools may screen out some applicants, you'll likely still have a few to choose from. Determine before you start interviewing what qualities are most important for the tasks you need completed. Then, come up with questions that will help you determine if the applicants fit the bill. For example, if you need someone to put customers at ease you may want to ask how the applicant would handle a variety of social situations. If in this case you find that the potential intern is introverted, you may want to keep searching for a better fit.
Make the school schedule work. Most colleges and universities have fall, spring and summer semesters. Design your internship program to take advantage of the natural breaks, finding projects for interns to work on that will begin and end around that time. You may only get students to commit to one semester so don't use them on projects that will go on after that time unless you can afford to lose their input midstream.
Streamline a training program. Each time a new intern works with your business, you'll have to spend some time and energy helping that person learn the ropes. Rather than starting from scratch each time around, prepare a training manual or come up with a mini-orientation session that you can implement whenever new interns arrive. Pairing interns with full-time employees is another way to help interns adjust to the job. Not only do your employees gain leadership experience through such mentorship programs, but your interns will feel more connected to the company, providing even more inspiration for them to perform well.
