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An Ideal Internship And now I will preach about what makes an internship ideal. These are things which as a student you may expect to see, and as an employer you may consider offering. Moving expenses - Students generally have little income to begin with, so helping to relocate them to the internship is very common. Return trip expenses are also often offered. Living location & expenses - Moving to a new area can be difficult, especially when one is planning to stay only a short time. It is very helpful if the company can assist with locating a place to stay. Some companies work out specific arrangements for groups of interns at one location. This is a great way to get interns to bond, which is happy. In another approach, full time employees may rent out rooms for interns. This method often works out very well, as it doesn't require the student to set up utilities, sign a lease, and so on. The company should provide at least some information on living options in the area. For the same reasons that moving expenses are often subsidized, so are living. Work - Possible projects should be determined before the intern arrives. The internship is only there for a short time, and as I mentioned earlier it often takes a while to get a project completed. The intern should have something they can start focusing on, and attempt to accomplish. Project topics should be discussed with the intern and team members for a best fit. A designated team member should available to help the intern on the topic s/he is working on. They should both have the time and control / knowledge of the project. Networking - The intern should get a chance to meet the other employees. First day introductions are great, and the intern will promptly forget everyone s/he met. Throughout the course of the internship the intern should be able to meet people, talk with them, and make friends. This is often helped by having a mentor program - an employee takes on the job of showing the intern around. If possible, this mentor should be from another team. That allows the intern to learn more, and ask questions without feeling intimidated. Fun - Internships are more than work. Hey, if you're working at a game company play some games! Other activities are great to plan, too. If the intern has moved to a new area, they likely will not have a group of people to go out with. Inviting them to out of work fun helps to make them feel a little more at home. That mentor can come in handy here, and the company providing a little cash to play with helps. Information - Interns gain a lot by learning how a company works. EA's weekly meetings with speakers are an excellent example of how to do this. Letting the intern sit in on meetings is another option. Feedback - It's critical to let an intern know how s/he is doing. The internship is an incredible chance to grow. That can be done best if an intern knows what s/he has been doing right, and what s/he needs to concentrate on to improve. In a similar manner, the intern needs to evaluate the internship. Don't expect all of these things perfectly fulfilled in any internship. But, a healthy mix will help provide a good experience. I hope my ramblings have helped a bit. Perhaps I've motivated you to consider an internship, or to offer one. Maybe you're just avoiding getting work done. Regardless, I've thoroughly enjoyed the summer job's I've had, and grown a lot because of them. Oh, and if you're an employer, I'm graduating this summer... Vince Scheib is in his fourth and final year at The Ohio State University, finishing a degree in Computer Science Engineering. He tends to use his abilities towards aesthetically pleasing ends. Examples, and a glimpse of his distinctive feng shui, can be found at http://www.scheib.net/ ________________________________________________________ |
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