Attracting great interns can be challenging. Many university students are looking for a way to get their foot in the door of a potential employer and a pool of endless job opportunities. It’s not as easy as they may have planned, and they often have difficulties deciding on which company they want to intern with.
As a business, your goal is to find interns who will bring value to your startup. Ideally, you want to find someone who can be shaped into a dedicated and talented future employee. Do you feel like the methods you are using to attract interns are not bringing you the best candidates? Do you have little or no experience hiring interns? We got your back! Here are some ideas on how to attract the best university interns right now:
1. DEVELOP FUTURE LEADERS
Internships are a valuable first experience for the young workforce joining the real world. This means that hiring an intern can be a great opportunity to develop future leaders. You have the chance to shape your interns and teach them what they will need to know to be the future managers that your startup and the economy will benefit from. Keep in mind that hiring interns is a long-term investment, where both you and the intern should get the most out of it. Hiring the best-performing interns for your startup can open the door to a full-time opportunity, where you have the chance to help the intern to bloom in their careers. Here, you also make it easier for yourself as you do not need to spend your resources onboarding someone completely new to fill in the full-time opening. However, you do not need to necessarily end up hiring your interns full-time. As long as they have a good experience, they can benefit from this experience in their future leading to a successful career. Do not forget to read about well being and how to take care of your mental health as a startup founder .
2. CONSIDER THE INTERNSHIP TIMELINEÂ
If you are thinking about getting an intern onboard you will most likely have both long-term and short-term needs. Generally speaking, internships last for around 3-6 months, to ensure both the intern and company benefit from this deal. Think about your needs and when your startup will need the most hands-on deck. Try to plan to have more interns during your busy seasons, if you have the opportunity to do so. Moreover, you need to keep in mind when are your future interns having the opportunity to take the internship and make sure your hiring timeline corresponds with that. Internship cycles typically correlate with semesters, however, you should start your internship recruitment efforts well in advance to make sure you don’t miss out on the best of the best.Â
3. FIT THEIR NEEDS
Interns shouldn’t be overloaded with too many responsibilities. They should be there to learn, help, and contribute with their innovative and fresh ideas. Give them as much flexibility as you can. Give them tasks, and allow them to complete them as they desire, as long as everything is completed by the given deadline. They need a balance between their internship and their life. Don’t burn them out. You’re probably familiar with the stereotypes in different movies, where interns are treated like overworked minions. You need to ensure your interns finish their internship happier than they were when they started. Remember that positive intern experiences can lead to them recommending your company to their colleagues or friends who are looking for internships, which will make your hiring in the future much easier.
4. DO NOT LEAVE INTERNS HANGING ALONE / STRUCTURE THE INTERNSHIP
One of the most important parts of recruiting interns is to structure a clear process. There are questions to be answered even before you begin promoting your position and reaching out to potential interns. For example, what is the goal of the internship? How long is your internship program? Who are the interns going to work with? How many interns will you hire and what are going to be their responsibilities? Once you know the answers to these questions and have outlined your internship program, share it with your potential candidates to make sure they know what they can expect, where they start and where it might lead them if they’re successful. You should explain the internship thoroughly, including what they’ll achieve and what skills they’ll develop for their future careers.
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- OPEN UP THE NETWORKING DOORS
What can you provide for your interns outside of the office? Meetings, events, or any networking opportunity should be part of the package you offer to your interns. Building a network is very important to soon-to-be graduates just starting their careers. They want to meet people who can help them on their career journey and provide mentoring with real-world experience. If you’re not preparing them for a position at your startup, make sure they can complete their internship with meaningful leads and job opportunities. Encourage them to explore their future. - LET THEM SHINE
Doing boring tasks and checklist-type activities hardly qualifies as a meaningful intern experience. Interns should be encouraged to utilize their base of current knowledge, not to mention their fresh ideas. What you want is their creativity and a diversity of opinion. You want their innovative solutions. You need to give them the opportunity to make a positive impact on your startup. Internships should be a learning experience for both parties. If you suffocate your interns, you’re losing the potential to experience all the benefits.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST, MAKE THE BEST JOB POSTING
With a solid idea of who you’re looking for, you need to figure out how to reach them and that means advertising in all the right places. Making the job posting at The Hub will allow you to expose your job to thousands of potential talents getting a chance to apply for your amazing opening. After posting at The Hub you will get much more than just our audience. We will share your job post on different job boards such as Monster, Indeed, Talent.com and so much more. Do not hesitate and create your internship opening now!Â
Of course, you want to recruit the best interns for your company. You know that they can help your business grow by offering a new pair of eyes and potentially even becoming your full-time employees if they perform well. To hire the best interns, your internship recruitment process must be top-notch. So if you don’t have one yet, you should start building one right now—with these tips in mind to help you get started!
