The nitty gritty of managing an internship program
About the Author: Shriyans Bhandari is the CEO of Greensole and director at Heritage Girls School, one of the top-ranked boarding schools for girls known for its unique holistic curriculum. He provides insightful details of managing their successful internship program.
Internships are the cherries on top of the resume sundae. They can make any student stand out to colleges, future employers, and boyfriend’s/girlfriend’s parents just as a cherry stands out to a starving young child in a brightly colored ice cream. Hosting an internship program benefits both the student and the employer. Students benefit by applying their classroom learning in the real world. Employers benefit by gaining enthusiastic workers—perhaps for an internship, perhaps longer—along with the satisfaction of launching a career. Internships are quickly becoming essential for any job and can offer a lot of experience to students hoping to get ahead.
Perched picturesquely on a verdant hill on the banks of Lake Baghela near Eklingji, Udaipur, Heritage Girls School takes in girls from classes IV to IX and XI. The Intern program involved:
Orientation: A formal introduction to the company was made for interns to get familiar with the office environment and meet the staff. They were familiarized with various aspects of the school such as academics, air-conditioned campus with playgrounds, various sports facilities, state-of-the-art dormitories etc.
Professional-level assignments: Programs were professional in nature. Not only interns gained from the experience, but we also benefitted. We provided challenging tasks and responsibilities to our interns, supported them as they learned, and answered their questions. Interns helped us brainstorm ideas for Guerrilla marketing, digital marketing, and city sensing. Jyoti drafted an amazing campaign for Facebook to attract out target audience with maximum engagement. Aakash made us experience the colors of Ahmedabad when we went for an exhibition there.
Company integration: We included the interns in school activities and traditions – both in and out of the campus. Some examples included school sports teams, group lunches, picnics, or even in a speaker series. We made them feel like a part of the team and encouraged their involvement. Parichay’s mimicry session was a hit amongst the staff.
Evaluations: The Trainee evaluations allowed us to touch base with them and assess the program and the intern’s performance. We provided feedback and guidance, and a set time was put aside where interns could discuss any question they might had.
Exit Interview: An exit interview is conducted which is a great way to gather feedback on an intern’s experiences at your company so that you can improve the program for your future interns. It has also been a great opportunity to assess what our interns have learned about the school culture.
Keep in Touch! After interns return to their home cities, we stay in contact with them via email or LinkedIn. Not only are we a great resource and reference for them as they develop as professional peers, but maintaining this connection/contact will also expand our global network in the future.
It was a pleasure getting to know all the interns and watching them progress on their projects. Throughout the program, the interns wrote blog posts, conducted research on social media campaigns, worked on special marketing projects, helped out with school events, and much more. The entire team was impressed by the professionalism, creativity, enthusiasm, and commitment that every intern displayed. We wish them all the best for their future endeavors.
Planning to hire interns for your company? Please post your requirements here.
