Internship Guidelines
an Internship Opportunity
Providing an internship opportunity within your company is a great opportunity for both you as an employer and for students who are pursuing a career in the concrete or construction industry.
WHAT’S IN IT FOR THE COMPANY?
Offering an internship to a qualified student provides companies with a great worker recruitment advantage. Students that intern and have a good experience with a company are much more likely to seek employment from that company upon graduation. It is also a terrific way for the company to evaluate the student’s abilities and fit within the company before committing to hire the individual as a full-time employee. In addition, an intern can be a great and inexpensive supplement to your existing workforce, especially during the busy construction season.
WHAT’S IN IT FOR THE STUDENT?
Students gain valuable experience in the industry through an internship. This helps them make decisions about their potential career and can provide an advantage over their peers as they search for employment upon graduation. Additionally, many educational programs, such as the Concrete Industry Management (CIM) program at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), now require at least one internship experience to fulfill graduation requirements.
HOW DOES A COMPANY STRUCTURE AN INTERNSHIP?
Here are some guidelines for companies to follow when structuring an internship:
Types of Internships- There are several types of internships, and companies have flexibility in terms of the length and time of year in which they want to offer an internship opportunity. Most students will be interested in a summer internship. These typically will last two months, but can be tailored to the schedule of the company or the potential intern. Some students may wish to take a semester off of school to intern, which means that internships can be offered year-round. Local students may be interested in a part-time internship where they work at a company around their school schedule. For the CIM program, students must work 400 hours in an internship to fulfill requirements for two credits toward graduation.
Compensation- You can choose to offer either a paid or unpaid internship. Some students may be willing to take an unpaid internship just to gain the valuable experience. Keep in mind that unpaid internships can certainly become more attractive if you agree to pay for housing and commuting costs. Paid internships that provide housing tend to lure the most experienced and marketable intern candidates. An informal poll of summer 2007 CIM program interns revealed a range of $12 to $15 per hour was offered by most companies. Some companies have chosen instead to offer a stipend to interns, either on a monthly basis or to cover the course of the internship.
The decision on how to compensate the intern is entirely up to the company and will depend on economic conditions, the experience and qualifications of the potential intern, and the type of work the intern will be performing. When determining if you can provide compensation to your intern, consider your company’s typical recruitment costs, as well as what you would have to pay full-time employees to cover the work you intend to have performed by your intern. It may be that the internship effectively pays for itself by reducing your costs in other areas.
Housing- Housing is one of the most important facets of an internship arrangement. If the student is not from your local area, he or she will likely need some help in finding suitable housing for the course of the internship. While it is not required that your company pay for housing, it is certainly an attraction to students if you are willing to pay for housing, and it allows you to draw from a larger pool of potential interns. In any event, locating affordable and suitable housing for your intern is likely to be necessary. Many interns will be living in a place far from home during their internships and will not be familiar with the area.
If you are responsible for finding your intern(s) housing, consider area crime rates, accessibility to goods and services, and commuting times to and from work when evaluating housing options. You will need to know if your intern will have a car or if mass transit is available to and from their housing and work locations.
Potential Sources of Housing Include:
• Colleges and universities often rent out dormitory rooms not being occupied by full-time students. In many cases, this will be your most cost-effective option and can provide a built-in social network for your intern.
• Some apartment buildings offer short-term leases, especially in transient areas.
• Many hotel chains that now offer suites accommodations rented by the week – generally geared toward business travelers.
• Consider teaming up with your competitors. If several companies in a local area are each hosting interns, you may be able to rent a house or multi-room apartment to house your interns together at a shared expense. This also facilitates networking for the students.
• In larger cities that are accustomed to hosting summer interns, such as Washington D.C., there may be special residencies set up to serve this purpose that can be found on a housing website or by requesting a city housing guide from your local chamber of commerce.
Please note that a big help in finding available temporary housing is starting early – such as three to six months in advance. Housing opportunities can evaporate quickly, especially in high-demand areas.
If the intern is responsible for securing housing, you should be available to answer questions and provide area information, as mentioned above. Interns living a distance away may not be able to make an initial trip to investigate housing options. You can offer to evaluate their potential dwellings to make certain that they are as good as advertised and provide a suitable surrounding atmosphere.
Professional Conduct - Be sure to provide your intern with a copy of an employee or specialized intern handbook well in advance of the intern’s move to your company’s area. This will help the intern prepare for daily life on the job, including the dress code, hours of company operation and any other requirements or expectations of employment. Please also be available to answer any questions the intern might have.
Your Intern on the Job - It is important that you communicate with your potential intern in advance of the internship to be clear about both your and his or her expectations. Ask your intern if there are particular areas of the business in which he or she would like to focus. If the intern is unsure about which area of the business they want to pursue for a career, consider circulating the intern throughout your various departments to give him or her a broad experience. This can be valuable in any event, as he or she will need to understand the full scope of the business when ultimately obtaining a full-time managerial position.
If you have a particular workforce need that you are trying to fill with the internship, be clear with your potential intern about what they will, and will not, be doing. Although there is a certain amount of administrative or laborer work that is acceptable in an internship, remember that your student is seeking to learn and gain substantive experience in the industry. The vast majority of the intern’s workload should be focused on gaining experience and insights into the industry and your company’s operations. If you will not be the intern’s direct supervisor, make sure that the supervisor is willing to mentor your intern and understands your and the intern’s expectations for what they will do and learn.
Consider scheduling a mid-term review for the internship to evaluate the student’s performance and provide a formal opportunity for the student to give feedback on his or her experiences up to that point. This may provide for a richer and more rewarding experience for both the employer and intern, and allows a chance to correct any areas that may not be meeting expectations.
Don’t forget that when an internship is structured correctly and provides a satisfying experience for both employer and intern – it can be an excellent employee recruitment tool. Interns will be forming impressions about your company, and the industry in general, based upon their internship experience. Providing a fulfilling and valuable experience for your intern could lead to a qualified, knowledgeable full-time employee upon graduation.
After the Internship - After the internship, perform an exit interview with your intern to determine what he or she valued most and least in their internship experience with your company. Encourage him or her to give you honest feedback about how future internship opportunities could be improved. Ask your intern to share with you any reports or journals they prepare to chronicle their internship experience. Students receiving college credit for their internship will likely have some sort of document they will need to develop to relay their experiences and justify the credit. Also share your constructive feedback with the intern about areas in which he or she could improve upon skills or other items related to job performance.
Encourage your intern to stay in touch with you as he or she progresses through school. Offer to mentor him or her through the remainder of school and serve as a resource for industry information. If the intern did a good job, offer to provide letters of recommendation and job leads to him or her, whether or not you have the ability to hire him or her full-time within your company. Establishing an avenue for continued dialogue and support will give you the edge in recruiting your intern as a future full-time employee on your team. It will also instill loyalty and respect for your firm no matter what segment of the industry he or she ultimately chooses for a career. Remember, your intern could be a future employee, customer, supplier or competitor.
