Has anyone ever called your office for an internship? If not, then you have a problem and you are missing it. Your phone should be ringing especially before the summer with potential interns looking for a summer learning experience from you and your company.
The interns are fabulous. They bring fresh blood to your business, a host of new ideas, energy, and the opportunity to eliminate projects you’ve wanted to get to but never had the time for. They are generally young, which means they are more tech-savvy than you. Let them help you with social media. Let them create a Facebook fan page for your business. Ask them to research blog posts you’ve wanted to write or speaking opportunities you’ve wanted to take advantage of. Give them presentations to design. Use the knowledge they have to benefit you and your company.
If your office has never received a phone call from an intern, you have a problem. It means that your business is not being discussed. It is not something that enough people are aware of. College professors need to know about your company and what your students can earn by interning for credit with you and your company. Maybe the phone won’t ring because you haven’t told him you need help and that you like to guide the young adults who come.
Friends, church people, people at networking meetings should try to get your kids to do an internship in your office because they know your child will learn a lot from working with you, possibly get college credit, add work experience to your resume, hopefully a letter of recommendation, a potential job down the line, and sometimes some income.
Sit back and look at your to-do list. How many of the things that need to be done could easily be done by someone else with a little guidance from you? What systems could they implement for you? Then at the next local networking event you attend for your business, let everyone know that you are looking for an intern. Someone there knows a high school or college student who would like to gain work experience. Take the time to do some interviews and choose the person you think will have the most impact on your company. That doesn’t necessarily mean the person you get along with the most. Hire them and put them to work.