Making Sense of Internships
Make Things, Make Sense Podcast
Episode 5
Play in Spotify App
What is an internship?
An internship is a work placement that gives people the opportunity to gain experience in an industry they are interested in. An internship allows students to apply the knowledge they are learning at University to real-life situations in a company.
Internships are even more important than ever.
The employment market is tough and having a degree is no longer enough.
Employers are looking for experience and for people with the ability to apply their knowledge to the real world.
Therefore students and graduates are hungry for good internships.
At the moment there is also a lot of controversy around internships as a lot of companies try to use interns to replace workers in order to save on wages due to the trying period we are in.
However, this is not the purpose of an internship and is not the way to get the most of the internship for the company either.
Why are internships important?
For the employer:
- New talent acquisition – interns bring fresh ideas and challenge the ‘way we’ve always done it’ notion. They have fresh knowledge in the relevant field and are excited to apply it.
- It could progress into long-term employment. Research shows that interns who get employed with a company are more likely to remain with the company.
- Interns done right could develop into new brand ambassadors
For the intern:
- An opportunity to gain invaluable experience that makes you more hirable.
- A possible career.
- Relevant experience to help you consider the right career path.
How to find the right intern?
Just like we discussed with employees last week, we believe that core values should be the essence of finding the right intern.
Of course, the intern needs to be studying a field that can be applied to your industry but equally importantly the intern needs to fit in with the team and the values of the company in order for the internship to be successful.
How to find the right internship?
Tudor discusses his process of choosing GG as his internship and how to find the right one for you.
Josh discusses the impact on the company of the internships and how significant they have been for GG.
When not to hire an intern?
To go back to the controversy of internships there are some times when hiring an intern is not the solution. You shouldn’t hire an intern if:
- You want cheap or free labour
- You’re too busy and want to offload work
- You don’t have goals for the internship
An internship needs to be beneficial to both the intern and the company in order to be valuable. You should be setting goals for interns, providing them with a mentor and giving them meaningful tasks.
Conclusion
Share some success stories of internships and any that went wrong if you have any. Empower organisations to find the right internship that will benefit their organisation and also the intern.
