Tag Archives: Internship Program

Is My Company Ready for an Intern?

Even though itā€™s only January, many companies are already starting to think about summer intern recruitment. In fact, if you scroll down this page and look at our live numbers, you can see that summer internships are quickly getting posted toĀ IndianaINTERN.net. Feeling a bit of FOMO (fear of missing out)? Think you need an intern? You may want to pump the brakes before posting.

Iā€™m all about increasing the number of available internships for students. With the addition of interns, employers can accomplish additional tasks, introduce fresh perspectives and help train/mentor the future workforce. At the same time, students can increase their skills outside of the classroom, network and explore career interests. Itā€™s a win-win!

Thereā€™s a danger, however, in poorly-executed internships: Already understaffed employers hire interns and canā€™t provide them with training or feedback. They donā€™t put much thought into tasks and projects their intern will be accomplishing. Or …

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Why You Should Recognize Your Intern’s Work

Lots of employers take on interns.Ā  Plenty of professionals will tell you the importance of a structured intern program. But sometimes itā€™s easy to get lost in the handling of day to day tasks. For most interns, this role is their first experience of the ā€œreal worldā€ of their desired career path. It can be overwhelming, stressful, and completely new. This makes it crucial to recognize your interns when they do great work.

Whether positive or negative, feedback is necessary.

One of the signs of a successful internship program is constant feedback. There should be some type of schedule laid out for performance reviews or self-evaluation, and outlining tasks and goals. Of course, sometimes there is a need for constructive criticism. But donā€™t let that be all your intern hears from you! Positive reinforcement, while it seems trivial, goes a long way. Recognizing your intern when they succeed with an …

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Should You Hire an Intern?

So youā€™re wondering if you should hire an intern. It can lead to a mutually beneficial relationship and a great experience! But instead of jumping right in, take time to really contemplate if hiring an intern is the right course of action.

What Does an Internship Entail?

Before you get started, you need to clear any assumptions or misconceptions you have about interns. It might seem like an attractive idea, but an internā€™s purpose isnā€™t to be your personal coffee delivery service, run your errands or be a cheap/free substitute for a full-time employee.

If youā€™re assigning interns tasks that are on the same responsibility level as a full-time employee, theyā€™re probably going to feel overwhelmed or exploited. Thereā€™s also nothing wrong with assigning somewhat menial tasks, but if their entire experience is filing and making copies, youā€™re missing the point! Internships exist to offer students or young professionals an …

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Employers: Don’t Forget to Register

Donā€™t miss out on your chance to earn six Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) credits at one of three upcoming internship management workshops.Ā  Indiana INTERNnet has partnered with Intern Bridge, the nation’s leading college talent consulting and research firm, to deliver the Total Internship Management Roadshow in Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, and Evansville.

The Total Internship Management Workshops will provide national internship best practices to Indiana employers, strengthening the stateā€™s mission to reduce the ā€œbrain drain.ā€Ā  Based on just-released data from over 100,000 students attending 500+ universities nationwide, the workshops will provide key data and metrics surrounding topics such as supervisor selection, work structure, compensation, working with universities, legal issues and much more.Ā 

All participants earn six Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) credits and receive a copy of Total Internship Management (a $40 value).Ā  To learn more, visit the following location specific web sites:

January 18, 2011: Fort Wayne, IN – …

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Employers: Is 2011 the Year?

Entry by Pat Patterson

Is 2011 the year you will hire an intern for your organization?Ā  If you have hired an intern in the past, is 2011 the year you will host more than one.Ā  If you are still ā€œon the fence,ā€ consider the benefits:

Employer Benefits

Interns can:

complete project work that may be on the backburner; increase productivity; reduce recruiting costs; and bring fresh, innovative perspectives to your organization.

Hosting an intern can allow you to:

provide a student with a rich learning experience; influence school curriculum; encourage students to stay in their local community; gain short-term talent; increase diversity within your organization; offer management experience to employees working as intern supervisors; provide full-time employees more time to focus on important tasks, remain competitive within your industry; market your company via word of mouth; and begin training potential full-time employees (more …

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Employers: Total Internship Management Roadshow Jan. 18, 19, & 20

Entry by Pat Patterson

Attend one of three nationally recognized recruiting seminars about successfully implementing internship programs to utilize affordable college talent.Ā  Indiana INTERNnet has partnered with Intern Bridge to deliver the Indiana INTERNnet Total Internship Management Roadshow in the following locations:

January 18, 2011: Fort Wayne, IN
January 19, 2011: Indianapolis, IN
January 20, 2011: Evansville, IN

The workshops are designed to help employers build world-class internship programs that have a direct impact on your organizationā€™s bottom line.Ā  The workshops will introduce attendees to best practices for building a talent pipeline through the use of effectively managed internship programs.Ā  Whether your organization is considering hiring one college student, or one hundred, these workshops will demonstrate how to do it creatively and efficiently.Ā  Based on just-released data from over 100,000 students attending 500+ universities nationwide, the programs will provide key data and metrics surrounding topics such as supervisor …

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What if we CAN have a successful internship program?

Entry by Ashley Cashen, Talent Acquisition and Retention Coordinator, digitalKnowledge

Founded in 2003, digitalKnowledge is a smaller, but mighty IT consulting firm. Last fall it became very apparent that digitalKnowledge was missing out on a great opportunity ā€“ hosting an intern. When the idea first began circling the office, it made perfect sense. We are a smaller company, but that lends to our unique office culture – a culture that is a perfect educational environment for an undergrad intern.

Several months later, here we are, with the first dK internship program well under way. The process to get here consisted of a lot of research and conversations pondering that never-ending question, what if? What if we donā€™t have enough work to keep the intern busy? What if we canā€™t pay the intern enough? What if we donā€™t have the staff to oversee the intern? And so on, and so on.

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