Having an intern (or several) in our company means responsibility, an initial extra workload and taking on avoidable risks and mistakes. But it also means a potential new colleague, a possible employee if the team grows, and someone who takes work off our hands.
An intern gives the company a positive boost, bringing in new blood full of the most up-to-date knowledge, which can benefit our production processes. There is also the personal satisfaction of having introduced someone to the world of work: often it is their first serious job, where they will put into practice everything they learned at school or college.
We will lighten our workload at little financial cost, and in the medium to long term we will have a potential colleague should the team grow. That is why it is important to choose the best possible candidate for our company.
How do you do it?
Through the school or college
This is an essential requirement for arranging an internship at a company.
We need to be very clear about the personal qualities of the candidate we are looking for, the tasks they will be given and the personal traits required. With this in mind, we go to the school and ask the teachers for the student who best fits our needs.
The more detail we give about the internship, and the better defined its objectives and the student’s responsibilities, the better the choice they will make of who comes to be trained in our company.
Run a small selection process
Ask the school to let you meet all its students. Hold a small selection process with them, built around two key objectives that benefit both sides:
- For the candidate, fresh out of student life: let them experience a selection process by taking an active part in it. They will learn what they are going to face in the job market.
- For the company: the process lets you get to know the students and find the best options for your workplace.
A group exercise disguised as a game reveals the students’ qualities and talents: who takes part, who treats it as something new and throws themselves into the game, and who is held back by shyness or lack of interest. For them it is a game; for the company it is a group dynamics exercise.
As with any group exercise, you will not end up with the single best candidate, but with several. With that small group, run a second game that helps you narrow down the best options, always with the benefit of both sides in mind.
In the workplace
The selection process does not end in the classroom. The workplace is where we can best see our intern’s professional qualities. With the attention you give them, how well you have prepared their tasks and the patience you both show, the person learning a trade in your company will get involved, learn, take the lead, feel independent and do work with the quality and professionalism of a veteran.
And don’t forget the contributions they may make to your company’s processes: as they get to know them and compare them with the theory they studied, they may come up with improvements that could be very useful to you.
Featured image: Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Center. 1994, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
