Investing in internships, university programs, and other early industry experiences is a great way to support the career growth of developing professionals. It’s also a tactic that can yield major benefits for the business.

Internship programs have been shown to bolster long-term hiring goals while lowering turnover and recruiting costs. They are also a great way to boost employer brand and generate greater employee engagement. 

However, creating an internship program is no small task. These programs require complex planning — from identifying the team members who will be involved, to mapping out program schedules and events, to building recruiting processes.

Here are 4 key practices teams should keep in mind as the approach the worthy-but-intense undertaking of internship planning:

Help Interns Build Their Networks

Interns are often told how important it is to build their networks — and with good reason! Experts estimate that upwards of 70% of full-time roles are filled through networking. 

However, they may struggle to put this good advice into action. Employers can support interns by offering practical insights into how to network and by offering networking opportunities as part of the internship’s structure — such as with intentional introductions or through a Buddy program.

These points of connection can also offer fresh interactions and perspectives for tenured employees. The benefits of networking go both ways!

For long-term hiring goals, extra attention paid to networking in the present can also be the ultimate source of a future referral or accepted job offer.

Expand Opportunities Beyond Certain Academic Backgrounds

What is your organization’s “why” behind the choice to offer internships?

If it’s to set people up for future career success by helping them gain experience in their field, consider who is able to access those opportunities. After all, universities are typically a significant financial investment and often inaccessible to many people.

A program that limits itself to current students or recent graduates narrows the diversity of its applicant pool in multiple ways — from class and economic brackets (which further intersect with other identities) to age — as people making a career change further into adulthood are much less likely to return to a formal university education.

A more diverse intern cohort also improves your long-term hiring outcomes. If all goes well, many of these early career employees may go on to full-time roles at your organization. Diverse teams are higher performing, more innovative, and have higher employee engagement. When investing in internships as part of a broader hiring function, think of the ways the parameters of a role may exclude potential future team members.

Beyond initial job descriptions and hiring plans, cultural experience and context should also be considered in the structure of an internship program. It’s best to avoid assumptions, for example, by making use of jargon that may be unclear if its definition isn’t already known — such as “eNPS” or “sprint grooming” — terms that probably would benefit from context and explanation.

Offer Post-Internship Support

While internships can be a fraction of someone’s overall career journey, the connections built don’t have to be.

Many teams now foster some form of “corporate alumni” network, creating long-term links to their organizations.

Interns who join an alumni network may gain future opportunities for advice and mentorship, not to mention potential referrals and other career opportunities from past coworkers.

Ultimately, how post-internship support is provided is a component of the program itself and should be a part of planning. What resources can be offered? For some teams this may be as simple and encouraging former interns to reach out with questions or for advice when they need it. For other organizations this may take the shape of more formal events, such as periodic networking mixers.

Consider providing this kind of support during the offboarding process to set expectations and create a personalized end to the program itself. 

Thoughtfully Solicit and Implement Feedback

As the saying goes, “Feedback is a gift.” It’s also one of the most helpful sources of data available to improve upon prior processes and programs.

Consider psychological safety when offering feedback. Psychological safety, a term coined by Amy Edmondson, psychological safety is “a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes and that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.”

Interns, early in this part of their professional journey, may feel less secure in the workplace. For that reason, anonymous feedback may be a particularly useful approach.

Of course, feedback isn’t simply something we collect retroactively. It’s also a component of how we work together. To that end, we recommend providing guidance for interns around how feedback is handled on your team. Some organizations may utilize something like radical candor, others may primarily explore feedback during structured check-ins. Introduce new team members to how this is used in your organization during their onboarding.

Lastly, celebrate wins! Beyond the value of positive feedback to individual teammates, sharing successes (especially in the form of post-program quotes or metrics) presents an opportunity to emphasize the value of these programs to leadership and can be used as a boost to employer branding.

Internship Programming with Donut

If you’re ready to take your internship and early career programs to the next level (and seize new opportunities to make them more effective), Donut can help! Learn more about how you can use Donut to plan and run automated intern programs.