|
The
Best Laid Plans:
Tips
for getting started
- Establish
clear internship/co-op program goals and objectives.
- Solicit
and maintain top management support.
- Allocate
resources to plan and implement program.
- Determine
the functional areas that would best be served by a intern program and
plan specific responsibilities, assignments/project criteria and timelines.
Don't disguise routine jobs or "grunt" work as an internship.
- Set up
a budget for student salaries or stipends based on current market demand
and the complexity of work assignments.
- Coach
managers in effective supervision/mentoring techniques to maximize student
training. Reward them for a job well done. Don't assign "green"
managers to interns.
- Determine
when students will begin and end their assignments.
- Understand
the dilemma of the academic vs. business cycle - respect the university's
main goal of education and its academic schedules.
Find
the Best:
Recruiting and Hiring an Intern/Co-Op Student
The students
you hire for internships/co-ops and other career-related opportunities
should be as carefully chosen as other employees. These are individuals
in whom your organization is making a significant investment. They may
also be potential permanent employees. To recruit students successfully,
consider the following points:
- Determine
which business concentrations you will find students with the course
work, interests and career goals that fit well with your organization's
experiential learning assignments.
- To build
your organization's name among students and broaden your pool of applicants,
engage in some traditional college relations activities, e.g., attend
job fairs, establish relationships with student professional associations,
and advertise in the campus newspaper.
- Once you
have received resumes from interested students, interview them in person
at your organization, if possible, so that they can meet potential co-workers
and see the actual work environment.
- Try to
elicit information from students about their immediate work interests
and career goals to develop a good match between the student and your
internship assignment.
Who's
in Charge:
Develop a Plan for Supervision
- Involve
the manager who will be responsible for supervising the student in the
development process
- Provide
supervision and mentoring by a professional. .
- Be prepared
to discuss "learning objectives" with your internship/co-op
student. Many students will need to develop clear objectives for the
learning they want to achieve while working in and experiential learning
position.
- Prepare
students to step into the role of a productive professional and help
them be perceived as valuable team members.
- Offer
progressively challenging series of work assignments.
Begin
with the end in mind:
Make a Plan for Evaluation
- Provide
students objective evaluations and assessment of progress throughout
the internship/co-op experience.
Back
to Employer Instructions
|