Are you a startup looking for ways to cut costs and get more done? Consider using an intern. Hiring interns is a great way to keep your operation lean, train up the next generation of talent and most importantly, free up some time so that you can focus on growing your business. This article shares how you can benefit from fresh ideas and the extra set of hands with three types of interns.
What is an intern?
An intern is a person who works at a company on a short-term basis in order to gain some real-world work experience. Depending on the nature of the work experience, the intern will be doing a paid or unpaid internship. Unpaid interns are more likely to be shadowing experienced team members whereas paid interns will be creating some economic benefit for the internship provider. In order to benefit from new skills and new perspectives, every business owner should offer internship opportunities regardless of whether they have a large or small business.
How to find interns?
Depending on whether you have an internship program or not, where you search for interns will depend on that you are hoping to achieve from the internship experience. For example, if you are looking to offer full-time jobs to successful interns then you should advertise on job boards like LinkedIn and target recent graduates. If you are looking to gain a fresh perspective and test new things without the intention to hire the intern as a full-time employee afterwards then look for college students who haven't graduated yet.
Interns to help you with your social media
Having an active and engaged following on social media is an excellent way to create brand awareness for smaller businesses. You current employees might not have much experience or interest in social media which is why hiring young people as interns can be a great opportunity to revamp your social media strategy and presence. Ensure your social media interns can produce templates so that you can continue posting after their internship ends.
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Interns to help you with your content development
Hiring an intern for content development can be a great way to revamp your blog. Companies struggle to find the time to write or can't justify building a content team internally so having an intern write content for you is a win-win situation which will benefit you and the intern. In the hiring process, identify grads who have writing skills and the ability to learn about what your company does in order to ensure the content they write for you is appropriate. Prior to the internship, plan a content calendar and editorial guidelines in order to set your expectations and set the intern up for success.
Interns to help you with your software development
Software development requires budget which is something startups and entrepreneurs often lack. Whilst interns might sometimes lack the skills to build production level code, working with an intern with software development skills can help you build a prototype of your product which can then help you secure more funding. If you already have a software development team in place, working with an intern can allow you to explore extensions to the product which are not yet high priority or haven't been officially planned.
Which contract do you need to take on an intern?
To take on an intern you will need an internship agreement. The internship agreement must define the status of the intern, the nature of the work and whether they will be paid or not. Internships are a great opportunity to identify new talent for your company which is why using a robust and transparent internship contract sets the foundations for a strong relationship. Sign up to Legislate to offer a professional contracting experience to your interns.
About Legislate
Legislate is a contracting platform where business owners can create contracts to help grow and develop their business. Legislate's employment offer letters and contracts are key in protecting your IP and Legislate's NDAs are crucial to ensure you can have conversations and partnerships to help develop your business and brand. Book a demo or sign up today to put the confidence back into contracting.
The opinions on this page are for general information purposes only and do not constitute legal advice on which you should rely.