Blog: Mentoring Interns Can Help in Your Business

Interns are available at most local colleges, and even some high schools, and they are a great way to get new ideas and fresh blood pumping through your business. We have been using interns at my company, Opis Network, for years and they are a wonderful resource.

I thought I would share a quick list of Intern Do's and Don'ts:

Do: Hire them for the right reason

Interns are NOT your sales team (though they can sell) and they are not your cleaning crew or gophers. Interns offer their services because they want to learn and grow in their chosen path. They can bring a host of different skills including technology and computer and social media insight along with current academic knowledge which many of us do not keep track of.

We find they are amazing at research since they do a lot of that in school. If you have a project that requires digging up facts and data, these young adults can drive deep into the web and find and organize lots of facts much better than most of us “older” adults.

Regarding selling, you can use them for outbound or inbound training but do not rely upon them to close your deals and do all your heavy lifting. We have done workshops and gone door to door with flyers and invites and getting them used to talking to strangers is actually a valuable skill that you can teach them. Don’t expect them to be as competent as a trained sales team, but hitching an intern with a top notch salesperson helps everyone and possibly grooms them for a career after graduation.

Do Not: Abuse their generosity.

Don’t ask them to pick up your dry cleaning or wash your car. Yes, you can have them pick up lunch on your dime as long as you feed them. They have younger feet and don’t mind walking or driving.

Where to find them:

We have been using the UCI Irvine Zotlink link which is free and must be reposted every 90 days. It will ask a series of questions which will allow you to hone in on the exact skills you want.

Cal State Fullerton also has a site we have used in the past but since our office is located closer to Irvine that makes the most sense as it will for you, too. Find a school that is a short drive since many students have no transportation, use public transportation, or cannot afford to pay for any more gas than they need.

Two questions you may ask: “Do you pay interns?” and the answer is “yes,” if you can, but most will work for free since they get experience learning from you. That means that you, Mr. & Mrs. Business Owner, have a lofty mission to give them a pleasurable experience, work environment and take aways that have them knowing it was worth their time.

The other question you may ask is “How large must my business be to warrant an intern?” and the answer is that there is no limit to that. Even a one person operation can benefit as they can benefit from you, and even if you are a solo or entrepreneur don’t bypass the opportunity to tap into this millennial intellectual asset.