11.5 THE SKILLS YOU NEED TO BE A GREAT BOSS: Managing Interns

(SHORT NOTES FROM TEAM MANAGEMENT:

Managing Different Groups of Workers at http://www.mindtools.com)

 

Internships are temporary, usually unpaid posts for people who are looking for on-the-job training.  College graduates, or other people considering a career change, will often take on internships to gain the experience and contacts they need as a platform for helping to launch the next stage of their career.  Interns' goals are generally to gain valuable work experience, in an industry that interests them, while they're still in school, or just recently graduated.

Internship Pros and Cons
Pros	Cons
inexpensive way to try out new talent	training interns can be quite time-consuming
work for little or no money	aren't already self-motivated
usually work very hard	difficult to keep them motivated to work hard
can increase your department's productivity without hurting your budget	Defining the roles of interns can be challenging
get more work done for less money	could potentially damage your company's reputation
satisfaction of knowing that you're really helping out young professionals by teaching them valuable skills, and getting them started in their careers
bring new energy and a different attitude to your office
have a positive effect on your permanent staff