Hiring Interns: things to keep in mind
Arguably, having an internship programme is the best way to tap into young talent. Interns have immense potential and can do wonders to your business (Internshala, for instance, was built by a group of interns for the first two years of its incipience). However, one should keep a few things in mind when it comes to intern hiring.
Here are some situations which you may face while hiring interns on Internshala, and how you can fix them:
No applications/few applications: It could be due to many reasons such as time of the year, stipend offered, quality of your internship ad write-up, the reach of the posting, etc. Here’s what you can do:
- Always plan in advance and post internship requirements at the right time. (For summers: February last week or First week of March is the ideal time; for winters: September last week or first week of October is the right time)
- Share your internship post on all social platforms (you can find the share links on your Internshala dashboard) to ensure it reaches as many candidates as possible.
- The number of applications received for an internship is directly proportional to the stipend offered. Revising your proposed stipend may drive more applications for you.
Irrelevant applications: Landing an internship is a competitive affair with many students applying for a single position, which means you may receive irrelevant applications at times. You can use the Filter (show only relevant application) option on your dashboard to see only relevant applications and make your hiring process faster and hassle-free.
Assessment: Use the application submitted by the candidate to shortlist but always assess or interview a candidate before extending an offer letter. You can give one short assignment, ideally not requiring more than a few hours of efforts, to gauge her skills and sincerity.
You should also speak to the candidate at least once before hiring; you will get to judge her interest better plus the candidate will also have an opportunity to clear any doubts she may have.
Students dropping out after confirming: Unfortunately, this happens at times. While you can’t read somebody’s mind, this problem can be mitigated to a large extent if the assessment process mentioned above is carried out properly. Certain other precautions you can take are:
- Interview a candidate diligently and gauge how your internship fits in with her career goals. Read 5 questions you must ask while hiring an intern.
- Always issue a formal offer letter and ask the selected candidates to send back a signed copy of the same as acceptance. It is not a yes until both the parties say yes.
- If the intern is doing the internship as a part of her curriculum, insist on getting an NOC issued by her college.
- Always keep a backup – while announcing the result keep 2/3 (or in the proportion of the number of openings) candidates in waiting. If somebody drops out, extend the offer letter to the candidates in waiting.
- Please report a student (if you hire through Internshala) if a student drops out after accepting the offer letter. If a student is at fault, she may be banned from applying to other internships.
Interns coming on board is just the beginning. If you expect great work from interns, make sure that you’re providing a great experience and mentoring too. Their role and tasks should be well defined; it should be as aligned with their career interests as possible so that the interns put in their best efforts, learn, and also have fun.
We sincerely hope these simple tips help you run a great internship program. Please feel free to comment if you have more to add.
Are you an employer looking for interns? Hire interns through Internshala; it’s free and efficient.
Image credit: www.humanresourcesonline.net
