Best of the ISP-Lists

That Intern Conundrum

Members of the ISP-Marketing list share experiences (good and bad) working with interns from local universities and colleges.

[December 26, 2001]

On the ISP-Marketing list in December, MW asked,

"Has anyone here ever used interns from a local university or college? If so, please share your experiences."

A number of respondents advised caution in taking on an intern:

[MS warned] "You can get lucky with the occasional intern, but for the most part they're high maintenance. If they're not right in the middle of the coolest project you have, they feel dissed and stop showing up. They seem to resent labor, since they think the internship is supposed to be a learning experience."

[JG agreed] "You are unlikely to get smart, hardworking, motivated help, unless you are paying for it. Don't expect an intern to know all the ropes: if you can't give them guidance or direction to achieve the goals you want, getting solid results will be a matter of luck."

[JR added] "You need to be very careful: your liability and workers compensation insurance policies may have language in the contracts about interns. In my opinion, an intern isn't a way to get cheap labor. You're better off just hiring someone at minimum wage and, if they are good, promoting them."

Others suggested that, for the right project, interns could be ideal:

[JB enthused] "I strongly recommend doing this. Aside from the obvious benefits to you, what you can provide to the student makes all the difference once they graduate. We did a semester-long project with a local university's marketing department. The classes were broken into smaller groups, and the interns competed for the right to put together a local marketing campaign for us. It was a terrific success!"

[MD agreed] "We have used interns for projects with very good results. We try to make sure that what they work on is achievable in a single academic quarter, and has an end result that they can work toward. Things like brochures or marketing research work well. And we've always tried to get them as a team: having three or four interns on a single project makes it more fun for them, it keeps them on track, and they can answer many questions themselves instead of asking us."

[JT observed] "An internship serves a dual purpose: what you can teach the intern, and what the intern can teach you. Much of what the intern has to offer is information on current trends. One of the benefits you can give the intern is a real-life environment where they can use what they've learned. It's a win/win deal."

— End