An internship can be the most rewarding educational experience in a student’s academic career.  Likewise, a firm’s IT department—indeed, any department—can benefit tremendously from having a well-structured internship program.  The key to success is creating a detailed plan on how the program will operate and how it will impact the organization, while providing a high quality educational experience for the intern.  Knowing that you have the power to provide an opportunity that can benefit both the intern and your firm obligates you to make the internship experience all that it should be.

 

Plan, Plan and Plan

There are three pillars of a quality internship: greater crystallization of vocational self-concept and work values, less “reality shock” and better employment opportunities.  As the saying goes, “Good instruction does not just happen; it is planned.”  It’s also true for the learning process of an internship.  Planning and constant evaluation help guarantee a successful internship program for both the learner and organization. 

 

When planning an internship program, first perform a needs assessment to verify that your firm has enough work at the appropriate level to support the program.  An internship is a contract or reciprocal agreement between your organization and the college; you are required to provide a proper learning atmosphere for the student, and in return, he/she should be expected to perform entry-level work.

 

Most internships are established through an academic department, but some are set up through individuals and organizations; but in either case, equal standards should apply.  They should be established at a level of responsibility for an entry-level professional, allowing the intern to feel he/she has the ability to impact decision-making in the organization, and that participation is valued and respected by the organization.  This will help develop professional level skills and prevent the intern from being relegated to the role of extra support staff.

 

Job Description

A job description for an intern position is as critical as it is for any other.  Write it in as much detail as possible, describing not only traditional duties but also the learning objectives for each major skill required for the internship.  Clear expectations and goals should be established.  It’s too easy for the student and the on-site supervisor to start off with—and then be handicapped by—misconceptions and misguided expectations; so the job must be clearly defined.  With the addition of learning objectives, the traditional position description becomes a learning contract between the intern and the organization that outlines the learning goals of the intern, the student’s job/position (and academic) responsibilities, criteria for evaluation and responsibilities of both supervisor and director.  By treating this hybrid position description as a learning contract, responsibility clearly falls on both the intern and the organization to ensure that the internship truly is educationally based on established goals and planned learning outcomes.

 

To Pay or Not to Pay

One of the most difficult issues to settle when creating an internship is whether to provide a salary.  On a practical level, it is harder for your organization if you’re not offering a salary to compete for the best candidates when some of your competitors are offering some type of compensation.  In the current economy, with so many cutbacks in financial aid, you may not be able to attract a student you want because the individual is forced to secure a paid position, especially if he or she is paying for course credit received during the internship.  So consider offering at least minimal compensation—and of course more is better, if you wish to secure the best and brightest.

Management Support is Critical

 

The success of any internship program depends heavily upon the endorsement of top management.  In fact, it is crucial for management to actively support an internship program to ensure participation from their senior employees, to acknowledge the intern’s credibility and to make sure the interns are not being relegated solely to doing back-burner work.  This support can have a dramatic impact on an internship program—from allocation of funding, to allowing the intern access to the upper levels of the decision-making process, to establishing an improved professional network.

 

The Mentor Matters

Another component of a successful internship program is the selection of a supervisor.  This may be your most challenging process.  The supervisor’s role in the life of an intern is like that of a mentor to a protégé:  the mentor is a loyal advisor entrusted with the care and education of the protégé—likewise, the supervisor-intern relationship.  There are many factors to consider when picking a supervisor.  For example, the employee’s current workload as a supervisor/mentor and full-time professional is a time-consuming responsibility.  You must determine whether the person has the time—not to mention desire.  If it is a summer internship, consider the vacation schedule of the supervisor/mentor.  It’s hard for a mentor to teach—and for his intern to learn—if he/she is off-site.

 

You may have many subject matter experts in your organization, but do they possess the communication skills, patience and desire to give all that a good internship site supervisor/mentor must?  Subject matter experts can be a valuable resource for an intern, but knowledge and experience in a subject may not be enough to be effective in the role.  Research and literature suggest that the quality of the internship is directly related to the structure of the on-site program and the dedication of the on-site supervisor.  Selecting the right supervisor/mentor can be a challenging process, but it can also determine the success or failure of your internship program.

 

The Interview Process

When all of the administrative pieces are in place, it is time to begin the candidate selection process, which should be as serious and methodical as it is for interviewing any candidate for your organization.  This will ensure that intern selection is an educational experience, even for candidates you ultimately reject.  Each organization has its own unique interview procedure, so a complete internship should expose the intern to as authentic an interview process as possible. 

 

When assessing potential interns, investigate their current academic programs to ensure a match in the skill set and philosophy, as well as the needs and philosophy of your organization.  Academic transcripts, class syllabi and college catalogs can be valuable tools for making these assessments.  Motivation is also a large part of making the internship experience a valuable one, and it is also one of the hardest factors to measure.  Criteria such as grade point average or prior experience do not often give an accurate indication of motivation.  Motivation is a key factor in academic and professional success and should be carefully considered when interviewing candidates.           

 

Be Prepared for “Reality Shock”    

Once your internship candidate has been hired, be on guard for stumbling blocks they will hit as they make the classroom-to-workplace transition.  All their lives, students have been praised for originality, even the most marginal kind; and they have been punished for copying even the best models.  But in the workplace, praise can be rare, and people are rarely asked to be original.  In fact, originality often raises eyebrows in an organization and leads to concerns that employees should indeed copy a suitable model.  In our work world where organizations are asked to do more with less and where models have been devised to help make work tasks flow more efficiently, students may have a hard time using these pre-existing models rather than ones they originate. 

 

Nevertheless, it is vital that exposing interns to real life in the workplace be a part of their experience, to expose them to the realities inherent in every job and help them adjust to those realities.  Every intern must be allowed to discover that routine and formula (and resulting boredom) are commonplace in the work world; but at the same time, it’s possible to find an appropriate balance between the mundane and the ability to impact the organization.       

Actually, the “reality shock” experience can be one of the key teaching moments for a mentor in any internship and yet another reason why the selection of the correct supervisor/mentor is so important. 

 

An internship can and should be the most rewarding part of a student’s educational experience.  Making that experience successful necessitates having a clearly defined plan and commitment to the internship process.  The program should serve as a cushion, bridging the gap between the classroom and a rewarding professional life.  It is the intern’s chance to apply skills acquired in the classroom, to gain new skills during the internship in a controlled environment and to set professional goals for the future, while learning to be more marketable.  In return, the organization receives such benefits as being able to pre-screen potential new employees, to secure inexpensive labor and perhaps most importantly, to bring from the classroom a welcome infusion of new ideas to help the organization grow and stay current in the field.

 

Developing a successful internship program is a process of constant evaluation that can mold future leaders and invigorate an organization when done correctly.  The key to a successful internship is to take the time to plan and define the structure of an internship program before it begins.

 

References

Ciofalo, A., (1992) — “Internships: Perspectives on Experiential Learning”

Burns, G., (1987) — “The Trouble with Internships”

Parris, A., Howard, G., (1994) — “Your Internship Is As Good As You Make It”

Ross, R., (1985) — “Developing Policies and Procedures: Getting Your Internship Program Started”

Veenendall, T., Freeman, A., (1983) — “Making an Internship Program Successful: The Necessary Ingredients”

 

About our author . . .

 

Rob Denton is the Technical Trainer for Plunkett & Cooney in Bloomfield Hills, MI. Rob received his Masters Degree in Adult Education and Training from Seattle University and also volunteers with the Michigan Human Society as a dog trainer.  He can be reached at rdenton@plunkettcooney.com or 248.594.8643.