This discussion focused on two topics of interest: 1. Preparing an internship work plan 2. Developing an intern job description

1. First Steps – Designing Your
Internship Program

2. Welcome!
• 5th in our series of
monthly webinars
• Hosted by
InternInMichigan.com
• Each webinar will be
divided into two
sections
• Your feedback will be
solicited for later use

3. Today’s Presenter
Cindy Brown
Intern In Michigan
West Michigan Strategic Alliance
cbrown@wm-alliance.org
• Currently working at the WMSA as Project Manager for our
Internship Initiative.
• Partnering w/ DRC, Prima Civitas and Traverse City Chamber
of Commerce on statewide internship program-Intern In
Michigan
• Prior life, worked at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, had a very solid
internship program
• Prior to that, interned at Walt Disney World

4. Housekeeping for the Webinar
• Use the dialogue boxes
to ask questions
• Questions will be
answered between
sections
• Links to view the slides
will be distributed after
the session

5. Today’s Topics
• Preparing a work
plan for your intern
• Developing an
intern job
description

6. Prepare, Prepare, Prepare
• Preparing an
internship work plan
and developing an
intern job description,
sets the internship
experience apart from
just being a summer
job or volunteer
experience.

7. Retaining Talent
• If we are committed to
increasing the
intellectual capital of
Michigan, by creating
internship
opportunities for our
college students, then
we must put forth the
effort to offer effective
and well thought out
internship programs.

8. What does your company hope
to achieve from the program?
• Is it, to create a
pipeline of motivated
talent to your entry
level positions?
• Internship programs
can be a way to
recruit pretty
inexpensively.

9. Why have an internship
programs?
• Is it a way to get your
company’s name out on
college campuses?
• Is it a way to get your
mid-level employees a
chance to manage
workers?
• Are there projects that
could be given to interns,
allowing employees to
concentrate on their main
job functions?
• Or is it because it’s a way
to give back to the
community?

11. Work Plan Components
• So who is going to be
the supervisor of the
intern?
• Who will mentor the
intern?

12. Work Plan Components
• What is the internship Job
Title and why is it
important?
• What is the description of
the Internship?
• What do you want your
intern to do?
• What do you want to
have happen once the
internship is complete?

13. Work Plan Components
• If you were to pay an
intern an hourly wage at
Minimum wage in
Michigan $7.40/hour, the
total including taxes etc.
would be just under
$10.00/hour.
• So, for example, you
could figure out $10/ hour
at XX number of hours
times XX number of
weeks and could come
up with a $1500
internship cost.

14. Work Plan Breakdown
• Once you figure out your pay
schedule, Get the internship
written into the budget.
• Research, create the budget for
the internship.
• Will you use a stipend or an
hourly wage, or use hourly pay
with commission?
• Which department will the money
come out of?
• If you are the decision maker,
sell your department managers
on the plan and get their input.
• If you are not the decision
maker, secure upper
management buy-in and their
support of the program.

15. Work Plan Breakdown
• Make sure that
everyone knows
when the student
intern is coming.
• Give them some
space, work station,
desk, phone,
computer, whatever
supplies they would
need to complete the
project.

16. What questions do you have?

17. Be aware that…
• Your intern wants a
chance to build upon
what he/she has learned
through coursework
• Your intern wants to learn
to apply what he/she has
learned to a "real world"
project.
• The focus of the
internship experience
should be devoted to
meaningful project work.

20. Clearly explains the job’s
duties
• Does it explain that
you want someone for
a specific project?
• Does it mention
general support
around the
workplace?
• Does it give the intern
a taste of everything
your company does?

21. One piece of advice…
• The student intern
will probably get
the project
completed quicker
and more
efficiently then you
would have
thought

22. What questions do you have?

23. Next Webinar
• Tentatively scheduled
for the 16th
of
December
• May be rescheduled
based on the
feedback received

24. Please contact
Cindy Brown
Intern In Michigan
West Michigan Strategic Alliance
cbrown@wm-alliance.org
Jason Pacely
Intern In Michigan
Detroit Chamber of Commerce
jpacely@detroitchamber.com