Preparation
Before embarking on the process of advertising for interns, it would be wise to consider the following questions:
- Why do you want to recruit an intern? Is it to give benefit to a young person entering the world of work for the first time, to fill a gap in your existing workforce, or a blend of both?
- Have you designed, or should you design, an internship programme in your organisation to give an intern a niche position and experienced support, mentoring and training? What you can offer will depend on the size of your organisation and the available resources.
- How long do you want to employ an intern for? Is it for a short slot of a few weeks, perhaps during the summer, or is it for a longer, or even indeterminate, period? The answer to this question may lead to a more specific consideration of whether the intern should be paid (see ‘Status and payment of interns’ below).
Organisations with a track record of taking on interns are likely to have internship programmes and dedicated resources and staffing within those programmes. Even where that is the case, these should be subject to regular review for good practice principles. A smaller organisation, or one which may only take on an intern occasionally, will still benefit from considering why they wish to take on an intern, for how long, and what resources they have to supervise, support and mentor them.
Finally, since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a growing trend for organisations to enable staff to work remotely either full- or part-time. It may be the case that an intern will be offered a similar working pattern, and this should also be considered before embarking on the recruitment exercise.
Recruitment
As society is becoming more diverse, that picture should be reflected in new entrants to the workplace, and attention should be paid to how diverse and inclusive current practices are. Recruiters should ask:
- Are job adverts encouraging of a wide pool of talent?
- Are selection processes as neutral as possible?
- Are interview panels reflective of a diverse workforce?
In research carried out by Robert Walters, a global recruitment consultancy, 85% of businesses stated that increasing diversity in their workforce was a priority, but only 46% had put programmes into practice to encourage this.
With an inclusive recruitment programme in place, interns can be recruited in broadly the same way as regular employees of an organisation, with proper consideration given to how their skills and qualifications fit with the tasks they will be expected to fulfil. Recruitment should be conducted in an open and rigorous way to enable fair and equal access to available internships. The job advertisement should give a clear indication of how long the internship will last and, at interview, the intern should be told honestly whether there is a real chance of obtaining a full-time contract.
Why should we recruit interns in the usual way?
The reason for recruiting interns in the same way as other employees is that, because the internship is about the professional development of a young person, it is useful for them to have experience of the job application process. By openly advertising the position, rather than just relying on family and friends, you can also widen the talent pool available to your organisation and make a real difference to the business. Don’t forget that a poorly devised internship programme might mean that you have to put in extra time, effort and resources at a later date.
What should the job advert contain?
You should include the following details in your advertisement:
- the length of the internship, the expected working hours and the start date
- the main duties the intern will be carrying out (the more explicit you can be, the better-suited applicants you are likely to get)
- whether the internship is likely to involve partial or total remote working (this can be expressed as something that is ‘possible’ rather than definite)
- whether you are offering any salary or expenses (see ‘Status and payment of interns’)
- what teams/projects the intern will work on
- what prior qualifications and experience are beneficial for the application
- a clear statement about whether there is a realistic possibility of the internship developing into a permanent position or, alternatively, the purpose of the internship on offer (for example, to gain skills in a particular professional field).
Employers are now deploying a wide range of selection processes, which may include remote or in-person interviews, psychometric testing and task-based testing. These are also used for internship recruiting but should of course be geared to the likely skills and qualifications of student or graduate applicants. Asking for a CV (two pages) and covering letter (one page) may be a traditional starting point, but bear in mind that it will be unusual for student or graduate interns to have a detailed employment history at this stage. Nevertheless, if your company uses a standard application for other vacancies, it could also be used for internships. Applicants should be informed as to what the stages of the selection process are.
How should internship selection be conducted?
If interviewing, the meeting should be conducted in broadly the same way as when recruiting a regular employee. That said, when devising interview questions, consideration should be given to the fact that many young people may have limited industry experience (which is presumably why they want to do an internship), and much of the relevant experience they have might be from their school, university education or extracurricular activities.
Focus interview questions or other selection tools around employability skills (for example, problem-solving skills, teamwork, communication, their potential for growth, their enthusiasm and commitment to the values of your organisation), rather than strict qualification and technical requirements. Any other selection tools used should be adapted in a similar fashion. In addition, if you intend to have your intern working on a particular project, the interview is a good opportunity to ask questions about how they would approach the project and what ideas they might have. You could even include these sorts of project-based questions in an application form or advertisement.
A good way of seeing the internship you are providing is from the perspective of social mobility. The aim may be to encourage young people to find their talents, potentially becoming valuable members of your workforce in the future, or ambassadors for your organisation when they move forward in their careers. A 2020 paper produced by the Government’s Social Mobility Commission addressed the sometimes challenging issue of encouraging young people from less advantaged backgrounds to get started in the world of work. One case study focused on a young woman who was the first in her family to go to university. Armed with her degree, she spent time working unpaid in her local area. She then attempted to expand her horizons by applying to a London PR firm.
‘The Jobcentre told me they could pay me £60 a week through Job Seekers Allowance for a six-week unpaid internship. I spent five days a week doing an unpaid internship in Swansea, where I learned about content creation, digital marketing and the specialist skills of translation… There was a PR company in London who wanted to hire me for my writing and language skills. We had a phone interview, then I was offered the role the same day via email. When I asked about the salary, they seemed surprised that I’d assumed I’d be paid – even though they expected me to move to London and work five days a week.’
