A note from Todd: We’re thrilled to welcome a group of three talented students from both Drexel and Rutgers University to our team for the Fall. We’ve asked each of them to write for our blog to help you get to know them a bit… today’s post is from Anastasia Khomeriki.
More and more companies are partnering with universities to adopt internship programs. Gone are the days when interns used to go on coffee runs and do tedious office work nobody else wanted. Now internships focus on higher-level tasks like data-analysis, strategy development, logistics, marketing, and more. They give college students an opportunity to close the gap with real-world experience, by improving and developing skills, learning more about the industry, and getting a glimpse of the professional workspace. But what can your company get out of it? Implementing internship programs gives you an access to new developments and a fresh perspective. A successfully run program can be beneficial to both parties and could turn into long-term partnerships.
In a marketing industry that is more changeable and fast-paced than ever before, having a fresh perspective and keeping up with the trends are very important. Young people can bring a new perspective and different way of thinking to your company. Having a new insight from someone who has not yet seen your business from the inside can draw surprising inspiration and new ideas to develop your strategy, content, and plans.
Hiring young people as interns can have a positive impact in pushing business forward in use of new technology and software. As this generation has grown up around technology, they have a natural ability to understand and pick up different technologies very quickly. Because of this they are also better equipped at responding to sudden changes and shifts which are common in the current business landscape.
Similarly, they are social media savvy, which is essential in the marketing field. 90% of young adults use social media (Clement). They keep up with the trends and are informed about current events, trends, and pop culture. If your target market includes Millennials and Gen-Z, then having a college intern as a part of your team is especially advantageous, since they have a better understanding of how to reach their peers though various marketing campaigns.
Having an internship program allows you to have extra set of hands that can help with meeting deadlines and accomplishing goals. This is not only beneficial for time management, but also increases productivity and helps full-time employees focus on more complicated tasks that require high level-expertise and frees them of the burden of small side projects.
In addition to giving opportunities to young people in your community to get started, which is a great cost-effective public relations tool, internship programs also help your current employees grow. By guiding and mentoring interns, they gain valuable leadership skills. Supervising interns is far easier and less stressful than working with already established employees. Mentorship roles increases accountability and sense of responsibility and helps them become effective leaders.
Internship programs are also year-round recruiting tools. Internship can feel like a test period, where you assess an intern’s performance and decide whether you want to keep them in the future. Many Fortune-500 companies hire over 80% of their interns (simplicity.com) for entry-level positions. So why not take a chance on creating an internship program? Because as much as your interns can learn and gain from you, you can also learn and benefit yourself.
Sources:
Clement, J. (2020, August 20). U.S. social reach by age 2019. Retrieved September 21, 2020, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/471370/us-adults-who-use-social-networks-age/
Turning Interns Into Full-Time Employees. (2017, November 08). Retrieved September 21, 2020, from https://www.symplicity.com/employers/campus-recruiting/resources/how-to-turn-interns-into-entry-level-employees