Doing business in post-recession America is scary for many big organizations. Can you imagine the fear that’s cutting through small and mid-sized companies? Many companies are worrying about how they can drive new sales growth, while at the same time, make payroll each week. It’s a bit of the chicken and the egg. Without human capital, it’s tough to drive sales and without sales, it’s tough to pay employees. So what can companies do in order to move forward?
The answer: Start an internship program.
Internships can be a great way to bring on hungry individuals who are willing to work for the “experience”. You can structure your internship program in many different ways depending on your needs. It can be paid, unpaid, for school credit, etc. I’ll get into a step-by-step approach to building a great internship program in a later post. For now, I want to focus on the mutual benefits that a great internship program provides.
Internship program – Employer benefits:
- Motivated individuals willing to work on projects large & small
- Reasonably priced labor
- Full-time employees can focus on their primary responsibilities
- Ability to get more done each day
- Full-time potential post graduation – they already know your business
Internship program – Intern benefits:
- Great real-world experience
- Possibly paid or receiving school credit
- Resume builder
- Network builder
- Full-time potential post graduation
I graduated from Bentley University in 2005 with a Communications degree. With that said, in my opinion, the degree only played a small role in landing me my first job. I was a self-taught marketer. My definition of self-taught is reading articles, blogs, and books about marketing and working for marketing companies to gain experience. 
I had about 7 different internships by the time I graduated college. They ranged from local non-profits where I would be cold-calling all day, to an Advertising/PR firm located in Beverly Hills, California, and even all the way to Madison Avenue at Young & Rubicam. I was much more appealing to employers because I had a vast amount of work experience for my age. Combine that with a great education and I was able to land a great job out of school.
On the flip side, I was able to make an impact at each organization for which I interned. Each company greatly benefited from the time I put in working there. They got a motivated individual who was willing to take on tasks that were very important for the organization, but ones that many full-time employees didn’t have time for. And to top it off, I was willing to do it for free in some cases, for school credit in others, or for a low hourly rate. If you’re looking for creative ways to grow your business, starting an internship program should be at the top of your list.
Do you have a great internship story? Please share it with us via the comments section below.