For interns, landing the right opportunity is important and competitive. Yet that doesn\u2019t mean that employers can sit back and simply expect gratitude for the opportunity. Internships can help you identify top talent<\/a> and funnel them into a full-time role in the future.<\/p>\n Hiring someone as an intern has many advantages on its own. Your business could benefit from a fresh perspective on familiar problems or long-term processes. The generation entering the workforce now is also highly tech savvy. They adapt easily to software, social media, artificial intelligence, and other aspects of digital transformation. Perhaps more rapidly than your current employees.<\/p>\n Internships can also serve as a trial period for future hires. This hiring path offers many benefits with stiff competition for talent in the wake of the “Great Resignation<\/a>.\u201d As \u201cQuiet Quitting<\/a>\u201d and \u201cAct Your Wage\u201d labor trends negatively impact productivity and employee turnover, your business gains from avoiding the time and cost of recruiting new people.<\/p>\n You know your interns already, and they know your business and how it works. This makes future onboarding more efficient. Plus, you\u2019re bringing on staff that can make a positive contribution much sooner than a hire with no previous exposure to your business.<\/p>\n Even if you\u2019re not looking to hire from your intern pool, providing a top-notch experience to the students who work with you can help your word of mouth with future intern talent. Having interns finish with you enthusiastic about what they learned can also enhance your overall business reputation.<\/p>\n This all leads to the important question: How can employers ensure that their internships appeal to top talent? The following strategies can help.<\/p>\n Provide interns with real opportunities to make a difference. Including them on projects that require critical thinking and problem-solving skills helps interns prepare for future roles and responsibilities. Plus, having a hand in real solutions to actual problems<\/a> is more likely to motivate them to work hard for your business.<\/p>\n Bringing on a wide range of people lets your business enjoy the benefits of varied perspectives and different experiences. Being intentional about DEI<\/a> in an internship program can also help indicate the importance your business places on supporting disadvantaged populations. Plus, you\u2019ll broaden the talent pool available to you.<\/p>\n Embracing DEI<\/a> has also proven to enhance collaboration, drive innovation, and increase revenue. Being a part of this kind of workplace culture can appeal particularly to the younger workforce who view DEI not as a preference, but as a requirement<\/a>.<\/p>\n DEI may be part of this, but it\u2019s not the only aspect of your company culture<\/a> you\u2019ll want to convey to interns. By ensuring you communicate your business brand in onboarding<\/a> and throughout the internship, you give potential future employees a full view of what you stand for and why it matters.<\/p>\n With company culture a key deciding factor<\/a> among potential employees, taking this opportunity to convey mission and vision to the next generation of workers can reap rewards for your business.<\/p>\n Discover what your employees think with our Company Culture Survey Template<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n Savvy interns seek to expand their marketable skills and experiences during their time with you. With a technological component to many of the most in-demand skills for new hires<\/a>, interns want to learn what they can about your use of software, cloud-based platforms, and other tech.<\/p>\n Leveraging technology also helps you increase accessibility for inclusion of all interns. Plus, you can enable flexible scheduling and remote or hybrid work environments, which now appeal to workers of all generations.<\/p>\n Meeting early in the internship to learn about the individual\u2019s aspirations and working together to develop aligned goals can offer several advantages. You learn about the intern while demonstrating that you care about their future. With their goals in mind, you can suggest different learning opportunities at your organization. This may help cultivate the individual\u2019s excitement about your company.<\/p>\n Goal setting<\/a> also helps you customize the internship so that it best benefits both the intern and your company. Knowing what they hope to achieve while working there, you can put them on relevant projects and expose them to necessary skills. You may also identify people you can connect with the intern within your business or from your external network to act as coach or mentor<\/a>.<\/p>\n Some employers view participating in their internship program as payment enough. After all, the interns are learning, gaining networking opportunities, and exposure to the people making future hiring decisions. However, paying your interns is considered the \u201csingle-best strategy\u201d for recruiting interns into full-time roles, according to the National Association for Colleges and Employers<\/a> (NACE).<\/p>\nWhy appealing to interns matters<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n#1 Make the work meaningful<\/h2>\n
#2 Emphasize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)<\/h2>\n
#3 Communicate culture<\/h2>\n
#4 Leverage technology<\/h2>\n
#5 Establish goals<\/h2>\n
#6 Compensate interns<\/h2>\n
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