Internships should ultimately benefit the intern, his/her mentor as well as the business as a whole.
Internships are a rite of passage for most, if not all, graduating students. The biggest misconception about internships is that it’s largely a one-sided working relationship – one that benefits the intern more than the organisation. However, the truth cannot be further than that.
For students, internships are instrumental in providing insights into their future careers. This is the time for them to gain some hands-on experience and ‘test-drive’ the role and/or industry before stepping into the working world. The insights gained could either solidify their passion or change their mindsets about their future careers. Internships also enable students to network and establish personal relationships which could help to jump-start their careers. For instance, students’ supervisors can be listed as a character reference and vouch for their intern’s ability to work well.
Interns: Potential employees
From an employer’s perspective, internships are important as it diversifies their recruiting strategies. We’ve seen the reports and heard from employers: Singapore is facing a talent shortage and this situation looks set to stay for a while. In light of this, employers should look at their interns as potential future employees, and the internship as a trial period to assess their skills and working attitudes.
This easily allows the employer to gauge the employability of a candidate, without worrying about having to limit resources such as costs and time when interns do become employees. By having interns, employers can cherry-pick and choose to hire a candidate best suited for the role.
New Perspectives
Interns, being fresh out of school, bring with them new sets of ideas and skills. Employers can look to them to provide creative perspectives to stagnant projects. In being tech-savvy and social media natives, interns could also prove to be handy in addressing your online needs.
Source of Support
Interns can provide support to existing staff when the need arises. With the additional assistance rendered by interns, employees are able to focus on more crucial areas requiring urgent attention. An example would be during busy periods such as the launch of a new product or service from the company. Interns would be able to act as support staff, helping out in areas such as administration so that full-time employees can devote their attention to more important areas.
Brand Advocates
Company branding is important – an intern’s positive experience would lead to good feedback being spread about your company. Interns often prove to be invaluable recruiting tools when they return to school after their internship ends. In a way, they can be considered brand advocates. However, do bear in mind that news of negative experiences can also travel the same way.
The Benfits of a Mentorship Scheme
Every intern needs a mentor, and through this mentoring, mentors themselves would gain leadership and supervisory skills. Internships should ultimately benefit the intern, his/her mentor as well as the business as a whole.
While it is commonly perceived that students are only keen in interning at larger companies, they are in fact willing to work in smaller business units as long as the internship is an educational, experiential and fulfilling one. This means that small and mid-sized enterprises and even start-ups should consider offering internships. While it does take effort and time to craft internship programmes, it is a process that would be worth your while in the long run.
