Credit: pixabay
Employing an intern costs far more than hiring an employee due to expenses for recruitment, supervision, intern remuneration, training, and consumables. Companies invest months of time and effort in training new interns, who might not even return to the company after they graduate.
So what is in it for companies to offer an internship? Here are 5 reasons why companies offer internships:
- Identify prospective talent
- Interns provide a unique point of view
- Establish a recruiting pipeline
- Increase productivity
- Improve supervising abilities of full-time employees
Identify Prospective Talent
What do you usually observe as a new user of any service? It is usual to come across a '30 day free trial’, or a premium package at a greatly discounted price for the first few months. For internships, the premise is the same.
Since most internships last between 3-6 months, it gives businesses a trial period to monitor and evaluate an intern's capabilities and attitude. In other words, an internship is like a months-long job interview and evaluation. This therefore makes internships an effective way to attract future employees. Research from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) suggests that nearly 52% of interns receive a full-time offer after the internship ends.
And here's a little extra incentive: At the one-year mark, interns who become full-time employees are almost 30% more likely to still be at your company than are other full-time hires. (internships.com)
Therefore, companies can make a more informed decision about whether the intern is a good match for the company, which results in a higher return on investment than employing someone with whom they have never worked with before.
Interns Provide a Unique Point of View
Interns can help the company in developing new ideas, which may stem from their own experiences or field of study. Having more thinking caps enables enterprises to come up with more unique ideas that might potentially grow the business.
credit:peoplecreations
For example, in a group of marketing interns, there may be students from other disciplines, such as psychology or computing, who may help improve the brainstorming process due to a variety of diverse opinions. These unique perspectives are something that companies can make full use of!
Establish Recruiting Pipeline
Word-of-mouth is one of the most efficient methods to learn about a company. When interns have a positive work experience at a company, they tell their friends, who may become interested in applying there. This provides a pipeline of potential applications, giving the company more choices in selecting the best talents.
credit:katemangostar
In establishing this pipeline, favorable employee feedback becomes extremely important as it also gives the company a greater reputation. For job seekers, sites such as GlassDoor have become a "go-to site", allowing them to read anonymous evaluations written by employees of various companies and their work experiences.
These sites give potential applicants the opportunity to acquire a better knowledge of the culture, the reality of the work environment, and to see themselves as a part of the company. Therefore, content shared can strongly influence the job seeker's decisions about whether they should apply.
Increase Productivity
There may be occasions when the burden gets too high, and having a group of interns to assist with specific duties may greatly reduce the workload. Interns see internships as a chance to demonstrate their talents at work to themselves and others, therefore you can anticipate the majority of them to do their responsibilities to the best of their ability!
Given how technologically proficient younger generations are becoming, they may also be able to provide some new ideas into how to accomplish some tasks more effectively. Assigning simple projects and tasks is one of the best ways for interns who are eager to learn to gain new skills! Think of it as a win-win situation for both the company and the intern!
Improving Supervising Abilities of Full-Time Employees
During a typical internship, an intern is paired with a mentor who will supervise and train him or her during the duration of the internship. Leadership abilities are essential in any career or job, thus supervising experience demonstrates that mentors can successfully help and manage others towards their goals.
credit: pressfoto
A good mentor can make the internship experience more memorable, increasing the intern's likelihood of returning to work for the company after graduation. Even if the intern does not choose to work there, there is little question that he or she will sing nothing but praises about the company! In any case, this is excellent for the company's reputation.
Companies hire interns to ensure that their full-time workers have the chance to practice and develop their leadership abilities. Interns may also offer useful input to their mentors on how they can become more effective leaders.
In one survey, 90% of companies who later take on their interns full-time are highly satisfied with the decision. (hrdailyadvisor.blr.com)
Having a mentoring program also helps cultivate a positive working environment that keeps full-time employees happier and motivated. This is an efficient approach for companies in retaining their employees. According to Forbes, retention rates for mentees (72%) and mentors (69%) were substantially better than for workers who did not engage in a mentor program (49%).
Conclusion
With many benefits to reap, these are some of the reasons why most companies are eager to offer internships to students. With so many bright-eyed and eager applicants, an internship is one of the most effective ways to witness an intern’s fullest potential.
Interns are usually students who are still in school and looking to gain some work experience over their summer vacation. As a result of internships, interns are therefore able to get relevant work experience, training, and new connections.
Graduates who choose to return to their internship company are immensely beneficial to a company, which some may refer to as ‘hitting the HR Jackpot’ - as the applicant has already received training from the company, is a good fit to the culture, and is loyal to the company. Their work productivity is suggested to be much greater than hiring the typical applicant, and saves the company huge amounts of money, up to a year’s worth of salary.