The 2nd episode on the Internship 101 Series.  In this episode we discuss the planning and recruiting for your new internship program. 

Plan:
Put together an internship calendar - highlight the key dates around recruiting, orientation, start and end date, when reviews will be.  Use this to communicate with your team and with candidates.

Have a planning meeting with the hiring managers and anyone involved in the internship program to set expectations, answer questions and get feedback. 

Keep the leadership team apprised of your plans and progress toward recruiting goals.  Plan to update leadership throughout your internship journey. 

Recruit:
Identify the need - How many interns? What positions will they fill? What skills or majors are required? Create job descriptions, you may want to use the entry level job descriptions the team the intern will be working on as a starting point.

How will you keep track of candidates and your follow up?  Over time its nice to have a way to track if you have interviewed candidates before, who interviewed them and what there thoughts were.  Using an applicant tracking system can be helpful but excel can work as well.  At Vizion360 we have an interview feedback form our team members complete after an interview so we can compare candidates.

In an era of "don't call us we will call you" try to follow up with candidates.  Give them feedback and communicate where they are in the process.  Many colleges take volunteers to help with mock interviews or resume reviews.   These are great ways to give back while honing your skills as well.

Take care of yourself, recruiting can be a tough business.  Give yourself grace and rewards for progress.

Around Cleveland: At my internship round table we discussed the fact that some colleges have rules for recruiting their students around how long you can give candidates to respond to their offer letters.  Touch base with career services as you draft your offers.  It is easy for leadership to expect quick turn around on candidates and signing them up before anyone else can nab them.  But we also know that we want candidates to make an informed decision and choose to work for our company.  Know the rules for the schools you are recruiting from.

Gratitude:
Take the Stairs book by Rory Vaden