Get a Bigger Impact from Your Internship Program

It’s an old myth that interns are “gofers” that will run around town picking up your dry cleaning, getting you coffee, and walking your dog. Those days (if they ever really existed) are long gone. Students these days are looking to gain real work experience and valuable skills in their internships.
Here are thee tips to ensure that your internship program is not only valuable to the student, but valuable to the company and to your team as well.

3 Tips to Improve Your Internship Program and Boost Its Impact

1) Give Interns Meaningful Work

Do your company and your interns a favor and assign them real work that will allow them to use the skills they have, acquire new skills, and work on something that will have a real impact. In doing this, your team becomes more productive and your intern(s) get valuable experience.
You can assign interns backlogged projects or add them to a current project that may need an extra set of eyes — just make sure that you clearly explain how the project will make an impact to the company, the client, or the team.

2) Schedule Check-in Meetings

As soon as the intern starts, get a check-in meeting on the calendar and stick to it. This could be weekly, bi-weekly, monthly — whatever works for you.
Use this time to discuss the intern’s progress, anything he or she could work on, and tasks he or she does really well. Also, be sure to allow the intern to bring any issues or impediments to the table. This should be an open feedback discussion to foster improvement on both sides.

3) Conduct Formal Evaluations at the End of the Internship

Create evaluation forms for both the intern and the company. At the end of the internship, the mentor should evaluate the intern’s improvements and success throughout their time with the company. Additionally, the intern should evaluate the company, the team, and the work he or she was given.
In an exit interview, review these evaluations and discuss any questions and/or concerns on either side. Both parties can use these evaluations to refine best practices and improve.

Bottom Line: Interns Are a Terrific Resource — Make Sure You Fully Appreciate and Get the Most Out of Their Value

By treating interns like real employees and implementing a strong feedback loop, they will get the experience they are looking for and your company will get extra employees for a few months. It’s a win/win situation!
What tips would you add to this list that have helped you improve your internship program?