14 Benefits of Starting an Internship Program for Your Company

Now that the summer is over and most college students have returned to campus to continue pursuing their university studies we have seen lots of posts from Interns and also from companies who had an Intern Program.

I have come across this article today https://www.internships.com/employer/resources/setup/benefits which focuses on the benefits of internship programs. The articles should help 'convince' management to consider creating formal Internship Programs; let's see what the benefits are - do you agree with them?

1. Find future employees - I have seen this first hand in most of the companies I have worked for. There are different types of internships but the most common ones are for the summer when the students are away from their regular classes and can put toward all the theory from their classes. This is a great opportunity for both the employer and the interns to see if they would like to work for your company. The company could save recruiting costs when interns return as full-time employees and the turn over of these employees is most likely going to be lower as they already 'tested' the company
2. Increase visibility on college campuses - this is very important for companies who do not have instant brand recognition like consumer brands. With a successful intern program the word of mouth on campus could help the employer to attract great talent
3. Test-drive the talent - This is a great opportunity for both the employer and the intern to see what it might be like to work for the employer full-time. Could save a lot of money in recruiting and avoid making recruiting mistakes.
4. Increase productivity - I have seen how productive interns can be first hand at work. In a couple weeks' time they had specific deliverables and also helped out overworked staff when it really mattered. 
5. Enhance perspective - interns bring new ideas, new approaches to solving old problems. The article argues that 'new people bring novel perspectives that can break up the status quo, as well as specialized strengths and skill sets' which I absolutely agree with.
6. Take advantage of low-cost labor - Interns are 'cheap' compared to full-time employees and they bring a new set of eyes and fresh ideas.
7. Find interns free-of-charge - there are different ways to recruiting interns; free of charge of some websites or through referrals which I have seen on many occasions
8. Give back to the community- This is a social responsibility all companies should be mindful of. Letting your focus on developing future talents will help not only the company but also the community. 
9. Close the skills gap - internships allow students to test themselves and also learn new skills that will allow them to 'close the gap with real-world experience in an internship, and at the same time develop future grads to be ready to hit the ground running when they start working at your company'.
10. Apply the latest in techniques and technology - Interns bring fresh look at how a company is solving some problems and also will bring latest technology to these age old problems. We have seen this with our interns this summer; thinking out-of-the box and applying the latest technology allowed interns to showcase their recently acquired classroom knowledge
11. Enhance your social media outreach - College students are social media savvy and this could benefit your company as they post about their experience. Make the experience with their while for them to post about it and the benefits will follow!
12. Foster leadership skills in current employees - On my team this summer a more junior staff had supervisory responsibilities for our summer intern. She helped him accelerate his learning and managed his workload daily. Great opportunity for the more junior staff to get a taste for mentoring and supervisory responsibilities. 
13. Improve the overall work environment - Previously we talked about the helping hands of interns with excessive workload. Their help can improve morale and make everyone be less stressed and more motivated.
14. Benefit your small- or medium-sized business - With smaller companies interns could get broader experience as there are less specialized employees. These skills could help interns identify new areas of interest and gain broader experience.

I agree with all of the above mentioned benefits of companies having intern programs. This is win-win for all involved - the company, employees and the interns. The pay back is very quick and the lasting effects will be felt beyond the duration of any internship!