There are many pros and cons of hiring an intern, for both the employer and the intern. Hence, many businesses are open to internships, even paid at times, as they realize the value that interns can bring to their business.
Why you may want to hire an intern
Firstly, because they can bring a bunch of fresh ideas and perspectives to an otherwise redundant workspace. Interns can add a lot of value to your office culture if chosen carefully. Most offices are likely to consider them as insignificant someone who does the grunt work for the office. However, if hired smartly, interns can contribute a lot more as they are constantly exposed to challenging and fresh environment in their university. Some of the best recruitment agencies in Calgary recommend using the same process as employee hiring to hire interns. Experts recommend trying and testing interns’ transferable skills and the ability to comprehend business, maintain confidentiality and take initiative.
What can a company offer
One of my acquaintances was recently hired as an intern in a leading bank based out of Surrey, through a recruitment agency. One of the key things, why she chose to work with that bank, was their work culture. The team she worked with treated her like a team member and not an outsider. She was assigned significant responsibilities rather than just taking printouts and photocopying documents. A recent survey by a leading employment agency in Winnipeg has revealed that ‘respect’ is one of the key virtues that make interns do very well or very badly at their internship opportunity. As an employer, it is imperative for you to offer respect to your intern’s efforts and work. Recognition can go a long way to ensuring that the intern brings value to your business. Assigning a mentor to the intern is also a great idea. Moreover, before deciding to hire an intern to make sure you have decided on the tasks and responsibilities you wish to assign and convey the same to them.
Sharing outcomes
The best employer-intern relationship is when both parties get what they expect. In such a functional relationship, an intern takes home great work experience, knowledge and organizational skills; while an employer gets their tasks done on time, gets new business perspectives and doesn’t have to compromise on their team’s productivity.
Long-term association
Ideally, both employer and interns must look at internship opportunities as potential employment. If a candidate has been extremely good at tasks, as an employer it should be a natural transition to offer a contract or permanent employment. Similarly, an intern must look at their internship with the same conviction and dedication as they would to permanent employment.