How to Create an Internship Program in 7 Easy Steps

© 2011 by Heather R. Huhman
Copyright holder is licensing this under the Creative Commons License, Attribution
3.0.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/

Special thanks to Katie Farrell, who helped research and write this e-book.

Disclosure: This content was originally posted on InternAdvocate.com.

> Please feel free to post this on your blog or e-mail it to whomever you believe
would benefit from reading it. Thank you.

by HEATHER R. HUHMAN 2

STEP 1: THINGS TO CONSIDER
Internships are quickly becoming one of the most important experiences in every
college student’s career. It’s difficult to graduate from college and land an entry-
level job without proving oneself at an internship (or several!).

If you don’t current have an internship program in place, you’ve likely considered
bringing on interns to lighten your workload or enhance your organization. What
are some things to consider about creating an internship program? And how do you
do it?

Benefits for employers

Bringing on talented young professionals through an internship program can benefit
you in a variety of ways. Searching and hiring interns can create a talent pipeline for
future entry-level job openings that you need to fill and will reduce your time spent
searching for the right candidate. You’ll also save money by being able to combine
college and intern recruiting efforts together.

Starting a young professional off as an intern not only provides them with the
necessary experience to excel in their field, but also gives you a chance to evaluate
and assess them for the potential to grow in your organization. At the end of the
internship period, you may even choose to hire them on full-time—and since they’ve


already learned so much at your internship program, you won’t have to spend as
much time or money training them as you would a new hire.

Benefits for young professionals

Young professionals that are brought on as interns have the opportunity to gain
much-needed professional experience. They enjoy being able to learn by performing
real tasks that talking with professionals in their field. Internship programs also
help students grow their network, find mentors and create pieces for their portfolio.

Unpaid internship laws

Ever since the Fair Labor Standards Act started cracking down on unpaid internship
programs, some organizations have shied away from creating a program for fear of
legal problems. Familiarize yourself with the laws and construct your program
accordingly.

1. The training, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of
the employer, is similar to what would be given in a vocational school or
academic educational instruction;
2. The training is for the benefit of the trainees;
3. The trainees do not displace regular employees, but work under their
close observation;


4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage
from the activities of the trainees, and on occasion the employer’s operations
may actually be impeded;
5. The trainees are not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the
training period; and
6. The employer and the trainees understand that the trainees are not entitled
to wages for the time spent in training.

Mentorship

Interns need to have a mentor provided for them to excel in their role—don’t just
give them instructions and expect that to be enough. If you don’t have the time or
resources to provide a mentor for your interns, you might want to reconsider
creating a program. Interns need someone to provide guidance and be involved in
their work in order for them to build upon their professional skills.


STEP 2: SETTING GOALS
Even if you don’t currently have an internship program in place, you’ve likely
considered bringing on interns to lighten your workload or enhance your
organization. Previously, we discussed things to consider when creating a new
program. This post will focus on setting goals for your organization, the
management team, and the intern to create an all-around beneficial experience.

Just like any other new venture, goals are one of the most important factors. Ask
yourself: Why are we creating an internship program?

Think about the following:

• What do you hope to get out of the program?
• Is your organization hoping to transition talented interns to entry-level
employees?
• Is your company growing rapidly and having a hard time finding motivated
employees?
• Are you a small company looking for extra help on a project?
• Will the team have sufficient time to mentor and guide the intern(s)?
• What will the intern learn during the internship period?
• What will the candidate get out of interning for your company? Networking
opportunities, a reference letter, skills?


• How many hours per week do you expect the intern to work? How long will
the internship last: a semester, a summer, six months?
• Will the internship offer an hourly wage or stipend?
• Do you have adequate workspace for the intern? Will the intern work virtually
(from home) or come into an office?
• How will you communicate with the intern on a daily basis?
• Will the intern receive any sort of training or on-boarding when hired in?

After answering the above questions, sit down and create a written plan about every
aspect of the internship program:

Goals
Expected Tasks/Projects
•

Supervisor/Mentorship
•

Training/On-boarding
•

Amount of time expected from intern
•

Compensation/benefits for intern
•
•

Create attainable goals and set up a structure for your organization, your
management team, and the intern. Having a plan in place helps the program run
smoother and aids the people that will be interested in learning more about your
program, such as potential candidates, campus career centers, and professors.


STEP 3: WRITING A PLAN & PROGRAM DESIGN
One of the most important aspects of creating a new internship program is having a
clear plan and design. Although you can always tweak it later, you want to create a
good experience for incoming young professionals by developing a structure for
your program.

Goals: What will the intern accomplish by the end of the internship period? How
will you measure success of your program?

Tasks/Projects: What will the intern’s deadlines look like? How many tasks per
week will they be expected to complete? What percentage of time will be dedicated
to each area of learning?

Supervisor/Mentorship: Who will supervise the intern on a day-to-day basis? Who
should the intern report to? Who will provide assistance to the intern should they
struggle with an assignment?

Training/Onboarding: What type of training will the intern receive? Who will
administer the training session(s)? Will the intern have access to a company
internal network for further assistance and resources?


Time: How long will the internship last? How many hours per week will the intern
dedicate to work? Will the intern be expected to attend anything additional (outside
of the workplace)? Will your program be flexible to work with a college student’s
schedule?

Compensation: What benefits will the intern walk away with at the end of the
internship? Networking opportunities, additional skills, a mentor, etc.? Will the
intern receive an hourly wage, college credit, a stipend or a scholarship? Be sure to
do your research in the industry and check out competitors to gauge what’s typical.

Additional considerations you may want to include in your plan:

Will the intern receive cross-training to learn more about your company?
Will the intern have their own workspace?
•

What background and experience will you expect in an intern?
•

How will you advertise and promote your new program?
•
•


STEP 4: RECRUITMENT
When you’re looking for an intern to take on, the last thing you want to do is make a
bad hire and end up with more work on your plate than you anticipated. So how do
you find quality intern candidates?

Write quality job descriptions. First and foremost, you need to create a job
description that will draw the right candidates in. It should detail tasks and projects,
benefits for the candidate, your organization’s mission and values, and provide a
direct contact at your company (as opposed to a generic e-mail address and no
contact name). Throwing together a mediocre job description often yields mediocre
candidates.

Interact with campus career centers. Build a relationship with campus career
centers at universities that offer a major in the field of your internship. At the very
least, send the center a detailed job description and deadlines for your internship so
they can send it out to their listserv of students who may be interested. If you want
to do more, attend a career fair to interact directly with students and career
counselors.

Get to know internship coordinators on-campus. Career centers can point you in
the right direction of a contact in a specific major on-campus. Often times,


internship coordinators are the first resource students turn to when they need to
fulfill their requirement for their degree.

Engage in social networking sites. Share information about your job posting and a
link to the description with appropriate hashtags (#). Tell your followers when
you’ll be on their campus searching for interns. Send updates about when you’ll be
attending a campus career fair. See a candidate who looks like a good fit for your
opening? Approach him or her directly and send the information over.

Use current interns to help recruit their talented friends (referrals). Once your
internship program is up and running, a great way to recruit future interns is to
enlist your current ones to help by recommending friends and colleagues. Referrals
can be one of the best ways to find future employees, if you set up your system
efficiently.

Use niche sites. There are many job sites focused on specific fields and industries,
as well as geared towards intern candidates. Make sure to research which sites will
yield the candidates you’re looking for and inquire about posting your opportunity
there.

Leverage your careers page. Many candidates start their job search by heading to
what they perceive as the most credible source: an organization’s careers page. Is
your careers page up-to-date and interactive? Your page should include current job


openings and give a candidate a look into your company: videos, blogs, social media
and newsletters can help with this.


STEP 5: MANAGEMENT
One of the keys to the success of your internship program is a proper and
supportive management team. Interns are often students or recent graduates with
little experience in the field, and they need guidance in order to learn the skills you
want them to master. A manager should have time and resources available in order
to onboard, train, and mentor the interns to excel in their role.

According to Barry Shiflett, Director of Career Management Services at Florida
International University, you need to carefully select the intern and site supervisor
in order for your program to be successful. Consider the following:

• Is this a professional member of your staff who is committed to and capable of
developing people?
• Does this person have the time to supervise interns?
• Will they work with the internship coordinator in the college?
• Can this person review resumes and/or applications and interview students?
• Will this person be able to respond to all candidates?

Along with those listed above, I would also advise you to consider these other
important factors:


• Does this person understand what young professionals need in a workplace
environment?
• Will the manager be able to review assignment in a timely manner and
provide feedback?
• Will the manager serve as a mentor to interns? Or will they only have time to
instruct interns? (As I’ve said before on my blog, “Learning doesn’t only
happen when you “instruct” someone. Sometimes it has to be deeper, more
involved than that. Yes, this can take (valuable) time. But then again, if you
don’t have the time to mentor your intern(s), you should shut down your
program.”)

The management team for an internship program can ultimately make or break the
success of the entire program. You’ll want to be sure that you’re choosing an
employee that can provide a great experience for interns, help them learn more
about the company and their industry, and prepare them for a future job in their
profession.


STEP 6: PROVIDING FEEDBACK & EVALUATING YOUR INTERN
Feedback is an important part of creating an internship program. Candidates need
mentorship and feedback in order to learn and grow during throughout the process.
They’re most likely still learning skills to excel in their industry, and your feedback
will be priceless in helping them grow into young professionals.

Feedback should never be solely focused on things the intern is doing “wrong.”
Rather, it should be constructive criticism (or even praise!) based on the tasks or
projects the intern is completing.

Here are a few ways to provide constructive feedback:

• Make it specific: Did the intern do a great job on the project you assigned
them? What was great about it? What could be improved? Use facts and
behaviors to provide constructive feedback.
• Encourage two-way communication: Always be open to feedback about
your internship program and supervisors. Ask interns how they would
evaluate themselves or how they would solve a problem. Make it easy for
interns to get in contact with you in-person or online. Interns provide a fresh
perspective and new energy that organizations should take advantage of.
• Provide feedback immediately: Don’t wait until a few weeks after a problem
occurs or an intern did a spectacular job on a task—give feedback in a timely


fashion. This way, the intern can continue learning and improving throughout
the internship period.
• Make it positive: While not every piece of feedback you give will be good
feedback, you can always make it positive. Aim to improve an intern’s
performance and behaviors through the feedback you provide.

Throughout the internship period, a supervisor or mentor should give feedback
on tasks and projects as they are completed. Feedback needs to be consistent
and ongoing to give interns an idea of what they’ve been excelling at and where they
need to improve.

At the very end of the internship, more comprehensive feedback should be given to
the intern. Many college internship programs require the supervisor to fill out an
evaluation form to ensure the student receives credit for participating. However,
this information is often only used for the school and not shared with the student.

In addition to this feedback, share with the intern how interning at your
organization will affect their future: Will they receive a job offer after the internship
is over? Are they able to receive a recommendation letter? If your department isn’t
hiring, are there other positions open you could refer them to?


STEP 7: EVALUATING YOUR PROGRAM &
MAKING NECESSARY CHANGES
Once you’ve hired your first intern, you can start thinking about evaluating your
program and making necessary changes based on the evaluation feedback.

Remember those goals you set before? Are you working toward achieving them
Think about if the internship is meeting the needs of your organization.

through your program?

Consider how your program is meeting your intern’s needs. Are they gaining
necessary experience in their field? Are they receiving real tasks and projects to
complete?

Ask a variety of people to evaluate your internship program, such as mentors, intern
supervisors, department heads, other employees, and the interns themselves.
Questions to include on the evaluation should include:

• How beneficial was it to the department to bring on an intern (or interns)?
• What would you change about the program for the next semester?
• Did the interns receive timely feedback throughout the process? If no, why
not?


• Can you think of other departments/projects that could benefit from
implementing an internship program?

Develop an exit survey for interns to complete to determine strengths and
weaknesses of your program. Some questions to include might be:

Do you view our company as a potential employer upon graduation?
Did you receive timely feedback throughout your internship period?
•

What new skills did you learn while working here?
•

Was the amount of supervision provided during your internship adequate?
•

Did you receive proper training/orientation before beginning your
•

internship?
•

Did you feel this internship was a beneficial learning experience?
Would you work for this supervisor again?
•

Would you work for this organization again?
•

Would you recommend this organization to other students?
•
•

Once the internship program has been evaluated by employees and interns, take a
close look at the feedback to determine any necessary changes to make. Since your
internship program is just beginning, don’t be discouraged if there are many things
that can use tweaking.


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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Heather R. Huhman, founder & president of Come Recommended, is
passionate about helping students and recent college graduates pursue
their dream careers. As the oldest child in her family – even among her
extended family – she did not have anyone to guide her through the trials
and tribulations of developing her career. Now, as an experienced hiring
manager and someone who has been in nearly every employment-related
situation imaginable, she is serving as that much-needed guide for others.

Heather knows and understands the needs of today’s employers and
internship and entry-level job seekers. Her expertise in this area led to her
selection as Examiner.com’s entry-level careers columnist in mid-2008. The
daily, national column educates high school students through recent college
graduates about how to find, land, and succeed at internships and entry-level jobs.

Additionally, Heather blogs about career advice at HeatherHuhman.com, as well as a number of
other publications. She is also the author of #ENTRYLEVELtweet: Taking Your Career from
Classroom to Cubicle (2010) and the e-books 10 Years, 12 Jobs, 3 Careers: Lessons Learned from
Taking My Career from Classroom to Cubicle to Penthouse (2010), Relocating for an Entry-Level Job:
Why You Probably Have to & How to Do It (2010), Graduated, Unemployed & Un(der)insured: Why

Provider & Plan Best for You (2010), and Gen Y Meets the Workforce: Launching Your Career During
You Need to Stop What You’re Doing Right Now to Purchase Health Insurance and How to Pick the

Economic Uncertainty (2008).

Heather resides in the Washington, DC area with her husband, dog and two cats. She is available
to answer your questions or speak at your next event.


How to Create an Internship Program in 7 Easy Steps

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