Greetings!
Internships can be a win-win situation for employees and employers. Employers may benefit from the new ideas of the people they hire during the summer and throughout the year. Interns may gain valuable work experience to boost their skills and resumes upon graduation. Internships may also be appropriate for individuals who have been out of the labor force for a while or who want to acquire new skills, often known as "returnships." Read on to ensure your internships are set up for success. |
Interns, often unpaid, want meaningful work experience. While they might be willing to run errands and other low skilled activities, they will benefit the most, and so will your organization, if you create a clear outline with specific deliverables for your interns including:
- Expectations.
- Responsibilities
- Learning goals
- Supervision
- Work schedule
- Evaluation, and
- Resources.
You may have specific projects in mind for them, but get them involved by understanding what
 they want to learn while working with, or for you. Great internships provide a valuable learning experience for the intern and give interns real responsibility. Interns should be encouraged to initiate projects, ask questions, and absorb information. Like all of your employees they also want training, mentoring and the opportunity for success.
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Stay Legal
An unpaid internship seems ideal for employers. Who wouldn't benefit from "free help?" Paying at least the minimum wage can keep your organization out of legal hot water. More and more, unpaid interns are fighting back against companies that don't pay them.
Interns a re suing companies as well as forming international labor rights groups to fight back against unpaid internships that are not true volunteer or or training for credit programs.
According to a recent New York Times article, companies being sued operate in a wide range of industries. Interns started a recent class action lawsuit in New York state against Fox Entertainment Group who did not pay interns $7.25 per hour for work on a blockbuster film.
Unless it is truly volunteer experience or training for credit it is time to create a healthy culture for interns including pay.
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Need Help with Interns?
Start with a Complimentary Business Assessment
Our Business Assessment is a tool that Pro Way Development has used with many clients to confirm they are creating job descriptions, hiring, integrating and evaluating internships for success.
The benefit?
Employees enjoy increased job satisfaction and productivity. This is also a great way to create a path for recruiting permanent employees from student interns or individuals who want to change careers.
Thank you for thinking of Pro Way Development for your HR, Training and Employee Relations Consulting needs.
Sincerely, Visit us on   Laura Jacob
(203) 961-0227 laura@prowaydevelopment.com |
in Human Resources and a 6 Sigma Greenbelt. 