Ever Thought of Running An Intern Program?
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I received an email yesterday about a local business incentive package for technical companies that are willing to hire interns.
My first reservation was to wonder whether or not jumping through all the government hoops would be worth any possible compensation that would be paid against the wages of the intern(s).
Then there are folks like Mr. Brausch who claim to have scores of interns who will do many tasks for free, in exchange for learning an Internet business from the inside (by actually doing the work to keep it running).
Well Mr. Brausch is having a “question period” on the topic of intern programs. Ask him a question on your blog and via a trackback, he’ll know about it and then answer the question.
“What is the one question… that if you had the answer to… would allow you to create your own successful intern program?”
My intern program question is…
What do I need to have in place to make sure that I create an intern program that will be a net gain in productivity for my business rather than a drain on my time and energy?
My experience so far is the most people just want to ask question after question and after a while I feel like I am working for my intern (or any other employee) rather than the other way around.
I’d love an answer to that question, because that is what holds me back in growing my business and creating more freedom in my life.
Jon,
I think the answer to your question will be along the lines of: have procedures that show your interns exactly what to do. Then they should not need to ask any questions.
Mr Braush records his actions to video which allows people to see exactly what needs to be done. This doesn’t stop them asking “why” questions though which you could choose not to answer.
Personally, I prefer to be friendly with people rather than treating them like cogs in a machine, so I don’t think I would be a good intern program leader.
Hi Jon,
I’ve never hired an intern before but I have worked as one (for a TV company as part of my journalism course) so can write from that perspective.
As an intern I appreciated being asked about my goals in advance, and there was a plan in place when I arrived so I knew what was expected and could just get on with it.
Where would you look for interns?
@Minx, I’d probably just write about it on this blog. I used to be better about keeping a newsletter and mailing list, which would probably be an even better place to start.
If you’d like to see all of the answers the questions Intern Program - Answer Time.
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