The internship is a great way for young graduates to enter the competitive job market. It gives them a chance to stay a step behind and observe the corporate culture, which helps them prepare for their first job one day. Many companies offer permanent positions to high-performing interns, which is beneficial for the company as well as the intern.
Many recruiting agencies offer intern hiring programs that facilitate companies in reaching out to the potential pool of qualified applicants. Specialized agencies like mortgage recruiter staffing agencies cater to real estate institutions by hiring interns who wish to learn the gimmicks of an established realtor.
Building a Successful Internship Program
The following factors are important for building an effective internship program.
1. Suitable Candidate
Recruiting candidates is equally important as hiring other professionals for the team. The right intern can prove to be an important asset to the company that can serve permanently. Thus, it is important to gauge an intern’s skills and qualities. The best way to do this is by assigning a relevant task that helps them showcase their talent.
This process is helpful for recruiters to analyze the abilities of the potential applicant. It also provides the applicants with an insight into the job’s nature and expectations. Discussing past projects and providing the company with relevant material also helps the recruiters in matching the applicant’s qualities with the required skills of the vacant position.
2. Intern Orientation
It is necessary to provide a comfortable working environment for the interns to enhance their performance. This starts with introducing them to the company’s work culture and code of conduct. A designated workspace is helpful for them to organize and concentrate on their tasks. Interns should be provided with additional exposure and made to work in multiple departments rather than restricting them to one department. This helps them acquire additional skills and understand workflow within different departments. For example, a content writer should have the opportunity to work with the SEO and the publishing department. This will increase their knowledge about the related work fields, which will improve their overall performance and work efficiency.
A successful internship program enables interns to maximize their potential and includes all aspects that help them prepare for a successful flight in the job market. Therefore, an effective way of developing an internship strategy is by listing all the important skills and procedures and including them step-wise at suitable levels for effective training.
3. Open Communication
Interns are new entrants in the corporate world, possessing skills to become future leaders. Therefore, they must be nourished and trained in a way that they become more confident and determined to polish their skills. Hence, companies should endorse an open-door policy, to facilitate interns. They should be encouraged to ask questions and clarify confusion regarding their task. There should be a lenient policy towards the interns in case of a mistake or a miscalculation. Constructive criticism helps them learn from their mistakes with more determination and renewed commitment.

4. Reflection
Time-to-time feedback on the intern’s performance helps them realize their potential and identify weak areas. It provides them the opportunity to express their desires and communicate issues.
5. Inclusion
The internship is an opportunity for the interns to polish their skills and gain real-world knowledge. Teaming up with interns and other employees and including them in meetings and team projects help them acquire essential traits such as teamwork, problem-solving, etc. It helps them understand communication and the hierarchy patterns within an organization. The inclusive approach of the organization enhances individual performance as well as contributes to overall productivity.
6. Aiming for a Successful Career
A good internship program includes all aspects that prepare interns for a successful career. It must include essential skill building and professional workshops, multiple department knowledge, and real customer assistance to improve their performance and acquire abundant skills to face the competitive job market. They should be introduced to the job market and allowed to develop connections for future appointments.
Conclusion
The success of an intern largely lies in his/her capabilities and the desire to gain maximum knowledge from the internship program. Hardworking interns are thrilled with the idea of assisting other employees and working in relevant departments after completing their assigned tasks. They take it as an opportunity to broaden their skill set and widen their knowledge. Though interns should maintain friendly relations with other employees, they should refrain from indulging in office gossip and interacting with any insubordinate employee. That may affect their performance negatively.