English 
Interns are typically college students looking to gain experience in their industry while working under mentors in their field of study. Hiring interns, however, has its pros and cons, so you’ll want to weigh them carefully before making your decision. On the plus side, interns are eager to learn and can bring fresh perspectives to your business. They’re also much more affordable than full-time employees because you’re not paying them benefits or giving them raises every year after they graduate. On the minus side, there is a great deal of trial and error due to inexperience that you will need to go through before you can take the training wheels off.
1) How much do interns cost?
Let’s start off with the big misconception about internships. There are no free rides. With anything in business, you get what you pay for with employees. Although you will not have to pay an intern at the same rate as experienced employees, it is necessary to make sure that internships include fair compensation for the hours and hard work. Little appreciation bonuses like a Starbucks gift card or a metro card would go a long way.
2) Are you ready to hire an intern?
The advantages of hiring interns are tremendous, including getting valuable work done at a reasonable cost, gaining experience working with professionals who can teach you what it’s like to start your own business, having someone to whom you can delegate work so that you have more time to focus on higher-level tasks, and networking with other businesses in your community. On top of that, there are tax benefits. This is a huge plus if your company is just starting out. However, before hiring an intern—and after deciding whether or not hiring one makes sense for your business—consider these five cons. It’s important to understand both sides of every coin.
Don’t hire an intern without weighing these factors:
- Longer hours. Depending on how you structure your internship program, interns may be expected to put in full days, although many companies allow interns flexible schedules and vacation days.
- Fierce competition. When it comes to job opportunities, recent college graduates often feel like they’re competing against everyone else around them. Internships can take that feeling up a notch when hundreds (or even thousands) of candidates vie for only a handful of positions.
- Not everything will get done. There’s always something that needs to be done, but as some astute blogger once said, If you wait until everything is perfect then nothing will ever get started.
- Less room for training. There’s only so much mentoring and guidance you can give to interns before they become too busy to train properly.
- Depends on availability. The majority of interns will need school breaks off, which means any scheduled work during those times won’t get done.
Knowing about these potential cons doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t hire an intern; rather, it should make sure that you know exactly what risks you might encounter along the way.
3) How will you know if an intern is right for your business?
Asking these questions will help you figure out if someone is right for your business. Not only will they help you filter potential candidates, but they’ll also help you determine when to hire an intern in the first place. Why are you hiring? What are your goals for your business? How can having another person on board better accomplish those goals? Make sure you know why you want or need to hire someone before putting in any time interviewing them.
4) Can interns do anything useful for your business?
One common misconception about interns is that they can’t actually do anything useful for your business. After all, if you have nothing to offer them, what’s in it for them? You’re not their mentor. You might not even be their teacher. Instead, interns are people who are interested in doing what you do, sometimes without compensation. They want to figure out how to make their own businesses better with whatever skills they’ve already picked up. If that sounds like a good deal to you then by all means hire away! It’s also true that internships come in many different varieties and not all of them require payment. For example, some can be converted into valuable references while others aren’t too taxing on your schedule but still serve as excellent learning experiences for students with high potential. Bottom line: Never assume an intern can do everything because most likely she cannot. Use common sense when considering which intern(s) will help you best achieve your goals so everyone ends up happy at year-end.
5) How much time will you spend finding the right intern?
Reach out to your personal network. If you have friends in business or colleagues at conferences, ask them to make introductions—but be sure to let these connections know exactly what kind of work you need help with so they don’t get confused later on. And once you find someone, check references! Always ask past clients about their experience working with potential new ones. Plus, if your new intern doesn’t work out after a few weeks or months (it happens), it won’t be too hard to replace her since she was found through word-of-mouth. You could also consider hiring an intern through an intern program, which helps place current students from various universities across cities into paid startup internships throughout NYC and Boston.
6) Where do you find good interns?
We’ve all been interns at one point in our lives. Sometimes, we’re looking for a good reference for a future employer. In other instances, we’re trying to gain skills to get ahead in our careers or build off prior internship experiences. No matter what your reason is for hiring an intern, it is important to know where you can go to find great candidates. Here are four places you can start Click on each site and search their listings for quality applicants.
You may also want to consider posting with local community colleges and universities (where many students do internships). Be sure to look through each application carefully; not every candidate is going to be up-to-date on social media etiquette or really understand why they’d want to work for your company specifically. That being said, keep an open mind while reviewing applications. Just because someone hasn’t posted anything online doesn’t mean they aren’t worth talking to—and just because they have over 500 friends doesn’t mean they’re necessarily qualified either!
Internship Wrap-Up
While internships can offer tremendous value to everyone involved, it’s important to remember that employers are in charge. This isn’t school. You have to provide your interns with feedback and regular check-ins, especially if they’re looking for a full-time role after graduation. It’s also up to you to treat them fairly and maintain a professional environment—i.e., don’t ask them to clean up your coffee mugs. After all, in most cases, interns are there because they want or need experience; hiring an intern is often just an opportunity cost on top of whatever else you do each day.
Join Networking in High Heels
Most women in business will tell you that you get what you give. If you want to reach your goals, or achieve success, or get ahead—you have to be willing to network. Networking in High Heels is a great way for women in business to get together and strengthen their networks. The goal of NiHH is simple: Help more women succeed. By providing a virtual community space where women can learn from one another about everything from creating a resume to starting a business, women can build strong bonds while helping one another along. And nothing builds relationships better than chatting over coffee!
At NiHH we provide networking events so our members can share ideas and contacts with other female professionals who are interested in getting more out of business and life. Join today!
