Now is the Time to Open up to Interns: Summer Internships Are a Win for Students AND for Your Business

Like you, I want my team to be engaged, innovative, clear on their mission, and loyal to our company. Above all I want to grow my business, and ultimately, I want to make a positive impact in my community and in our industry. I’ve applied lots of different strategies to achieve these goals, but one stands out as a surprisingly big win - our internship program.

Our internship program has turned out to be a surprising source of employee engagement. As a business owner, I work to attract the brightest talent, build a team of A players, keep them focused and excited to come to work.

“When the interns are here, everyone is fired up and really focused. Some of our best employees started out as interns”

The Win: In preparation for our annual summer intern season, our employees are challenged to distill and clearly articulate their job, their daily strategies to achieve their goals, and how they contribute to the growth of the company- a process that often leads to fruitful internal discussions about what is important at any one stage. For their part, the interns bring a fresh perspective along with new, sometimes very valuable, learning. An unexpected bonus is that this program has become an excellent farm system to help us hire the best new graduates, no small thing in this climate of very low unemployment. In fact, some of our highest achieving employees started out as interns.

The Right Thing to Do: According to the Wall Street Journal, the single greatest factor in employers’ hiring decisions of recent college graduates is whether the student had any real, hands-on employment experience in a business setting. Half of all recent college graduates are either unemployed or underemployed. In other words, an internship makes all the difference in getting a real job after college. As the parent of a college freshman, you can bet that I’m pretty motivated to get this kid in a summer internship that will help him get a full time job once he’s got the college degree.

For high school kids not heading to college, successfully transitioning into the world of work is even more challenging. Over the last 20 years there has been a general “universitization” in America – a paradigm shift to a belief that all students should be striving for a four year university degree. But many bright kids are kinetic, hands-on learners who don’t thrive in a traditional classroom. We have virtually eliminated vocational training programs in high schools, no more auto shop or welding classes, so these young people are being left on the educational roadside with few options. By creating internship opportunities, we are onboarding bright, hard-working young people into our industry. That’s a win-win.

“My internship opened up a world of possibilities. I'm achieving a lot more in my career than my friends are at this age”

Here’s How: Every intern has a mentor in our organization, someone responsible for meeting with them in advance to set a concrete goal for their time with us. These goals are well articulated and detailed, with clear parameters and benchmarks. We want every intern to come away with a tangible achievement that they can point to, with new knowledge about their area of interest, and with a strong letter of recommendation. We also expect our interns to make a contribution to a real area of our business, which they do. In other words, no one is making copies and picking up laundry for us, they are solving problems and contributing to our team. All of our interns are paid; we believe that they deliver value and we expect that they will treat their internship seriously, which they do.

All of this, of course, costs time and money. But compared to other initiatives, starting an internship program is simple and low cost. The benefits extend well beyond our existing organization. This program has helped us to build a flourishing, vibrant company with the brightest new talent, it has made a meaningful impact on our immediate community, has positively affected the lives of dozens of young people, and has brought many bright, hard-working young people into our industry. Is there any bigger win than that?

Please share your experiences, wins, and challenges with internship programs! And please feel free to ask questions if you are building an internship program from the ground up. 

Alex Parker is the Executive Vice President of Redline Detection www.redlinedetection.com where she spearheads strategic growth initiatives including new markets, new products, and new partners. Located in Orange, CA, Redline Detection is the world’s leader in diagnostic leak detection technology for automotive and heavy duty applications.