How To Get The Most Out Of Your Interns

Summer is the time of year when many companies and agencies are hiring interns onto their staffs. College students and graduates are eager to attain internships in their chosen fields, and learn as much as possible about the professional side of whichever industry they’d like to enter upon graduation.

Internships can be wonderful experiences for the interns because they stand to gain a lot of knowledge and experience. Most students know that in such a competitive job market and down economy, one of the most important things they can do with their summers is work—paid or unpaid—toward a polished, diverse and professional set of skills. Internships can also be wonderful experiences for the companies that offer them, and a few simple things can increase the enthusiasm, dedication and output of their interns. When bringing an intern on staff, companies should view that intern as an investment and opportunity to develop a contributing staff member.

Here are a few things companies can do to get the most out of their interns:

Discuss goals and expectations on day one. The best way to have an intern start a new position is to have them discuss the expectations and details of the internship with his or her supervisor. This is an opportunity to discuss day-to-day issues and tasks, company policies or to address any questions the intern still has about the job. The supervisor and intern should also take this time to work together to set some goals for the intern to work toward.

Make your intern part of the team. Introduce new interns to everyone in the office on the first day, show them around and try to relate to them on a personal level. If your space allows it, don’t tuck your intern away in a corner. I’m not suggesting a corner office, but by working more in the midst of the rest of the staff, the intern will pick up on office dynamics much more quickly. Finding out your intern’s interests and hobbies also will help you help the intern break the ice and find things in common with the rest of your staff. If your intern feels like part of the crew, it becomes easier to ask questions, bounce ideas off others and feel more motivated to work hard on everything (even the little things).

Give your intern good assignments. Nothing is more frustrating for interns than feeling like they were brought on staff to do everyone else’s grunt work. It is okay to include some administrative tasks among intern duties, and it should be part of an internship to be an assistant to other members of the staff. But, there should be a balance, and that balance should include meaningful projects for interns to do, so they can learn to see how their work contributes toward the company’s success. Interns will produce the best work when they feel accountable for an important project.

Invite interns into meetings. Unless the content of the meeting is confidential and only meant to involve select staff members, then you should consider including your intern in your meetings. Interns can offer good ideas in brainstorming sessions. They can take notes and prepare meeting summaries or update status reports. They’ll be more aware of project timelines and appreciate deadlines more when they understand the big picture. And, perhaps most importantly, they will observe the dynamic of the staff and understand who is responsible for which parts of projects and how to identify the right leaders.

Don’t view your intern as cheap (or free) labor. If you can afford to pay your intern, do it. Even a small stipend will make a difference. If you can’t, make sure the intern can receive school credit, and pending a good performance, will leave with a glowing recommendation. Everyone works harder when they feel they’re being compensated in a significant way. Interns are appreciative of the opportunity to work at your company, and are only going to work harder if they feel appreciated, too.

Show them the ropes. Many interns will learn most effectively when they can directly observe professionals doing their jobs. Let them observe interviews. If appropriate make pitches on speaker phone and let your intern listen to the conversation. Bring interns along to events and make them useful as your shadow; if you work with the media, give the intern some exposure to reporters or reps so they understand how you get your results. Keep in mind, many interns are still students; they will retain more if they are taught rather than told.

Allow some independence. Nobody likes to be micromanaged, including your interns. Once you’ve taught them some basic skills and observed good behavior, allow your intern to work on projects independently, managing their own time spent on each task. The intern will want to impress you with high quality work, and will learn time management skills. Over time, interns will work faster, produce higher quality work the first time around, and feel responsible and accountable for the work they do. Your company only stands to benefit from the excellent work of interns.

Let your intern teach YOU something. Young people are fast learners, they’re tech-savvy and have creative problem solving skills. If your intern is an expert or is passionate about something, ask to learn that topic from them. In PR, there is a term called “finding the twinkle spot”. This a subject that someone likes to talk about, knows a lot about and would always like to share with others. Find your intern’s twinkle spot and see if you stand to learn something about it. Doing this will teach your intern how to speak confidently when communicating with superiors and management, and in most cases, your intern will walk away from the conversation feeling even better about you and your company.

I’ve recently had the chance to teach my boss how to use Twitter. Social media is something I feel passionate about, and I think Twitter is an important tool for PR practitioners to understand and use. My boss approached me about helping her get a Twitter account started, and I sat down with her and went through the process with her, offering advice along the way. I explained @ replies, hashtags, how to search, how to follow; all the ins and outs of the process. By having the chance to teach her something, I suddenly became the expert and felt knowledgeable and important. When she has questions about Twitter, she comes to me. When I have questions about PR issues, I go to her. We created a bond over a topic and now I feel more comfortable than ever walking into the Senior Public Relations Officer’s office.

I am lucky to have had great experiences with jobs and internships, and the things I’ve learned from each position have shaped me into someone that is dedicated to learning about the communications industry and doing what I can to be a contributing part of it.

What does your company do that has been effective with interns? What are some examples of great intern performance in your organization? How do you maximize your intern’s experience?

7 Reasons To Let Your Intern Pitch Your Story

I’m aware I’ve been on about a two month hiatus from blogging. I’ve been lacking inspiration, but today I was rejuvinated. This morning, I read a post on the Journalistics blog by Jeremy Porter entitled “Don’t Let Your Intern Pitch.” The basic argument Jeremy makes is against public relations interns making pitches to journalists, and he offers seven reasons why.

• Interns don’t know your business
• Interns will sound scripted
• Interns don’t know the “dos and don’ts”
• Interns are still learning
• Interns take “no” for an answer
• Interns are fearless
• Interns aren’t paid by your clients

Jeremy explains each point in more detail in his post. I encourage you to read it (and the comments that followed) before you continue here.

As a recent college graduate who is now working in her third internship, I’ve gathered a wide variety of experience in the fields of advertising, public relations, media and sales. Though Jeremy’s post mostly has first-time interns in mind, I still challenge the generalizations he’s made on his list of reasons.

My goal is to offer a rebuttal. Here are 7 reasons TO let your intern pitch.

• Interns can offer a fresh perspective on your business. Though interns may not have the same depth of knowledge about a company or client as an account manager or more senior level leader, they can offer a fresh perspective on the pitch. Maybe there are story points or a news hook you haven’t thought of. In my current internship, I work with my supervisor all the time to discuss and discover news hooks and print-worthy information. If an intern pitches that focused, relevant information, the pitch will be concise and give the journalist all the background they would need to write a story.

• Interns don’t need scripts. If a supervisor does a good job of discussing the pitch beforehand with the intern, practicing pitch role-play and working as a team to lay out talking points, relevant facts, and all the 5W’s about the pitch topic, then there is no reason an intern is incapable of having a conversation with a journalist just like a more experienced PR pro might. Practice makes perfect, and interns will only get better with time. I doubt any PR pros made perfect pitches the first time they tried.

• Interns know the “dos and don’ts”. Even if an intern has no experience in journalism or working with any part of the media, that doesn’t mean the intern won’t exhibit a respectful attitude and common sense during a pitch. By practicing pitches ahead of time, a supervisor has the opportunity to address some “stupid questions” an intern might ask, and teach them how to answer correctly or avoid hot-button issues or requests. If it’s an email pitch, a supervisor should always read it ahead of time, just as would be done with a release.

• Interns are eager to learn. If a company takes on an intern, they are displaying confidence that the eager young PR practitioner is going to try to soak up as much knowledge and experience as possible. With structured, hands-on training, most interns will learn a lot of information very quickly. The best way to learn is by doing. Letting interns practice pitching with co-workers, then with media on some of the “little” stories will build confidence and a comfort with the craft. The more you teach an intern, the more helpful he or she will be to your company.

• Interns know when to take “no” for an answer. If you give an intern a job as important as making a pitch to do, you better believe they are going to maximize that opportunity. If the intern knows going in the importance of the first contact, they will make it count. Good interns will do the best job possible on each assignment, and having to walk into a supervisor’s office and say “I didn’t get to make the pitch because the journalist was busy” is not something they’re going to want to do. On the other side of the coin, if the intern has made even part of the pitch to the journalist, and it becomes clear the journalist is not going to cover the story or the timing for the editorial content is bad, he will know when to hear the word “no” and accept it. Interns, just like PR pros, can feel a vibe from a journalist if it’s time to hang up the phone or wait for a different opportunity for that particular media outlet.

• Interns are fearless. An intern will pitch any story to any media outlet they are asked to. An intern can only improve by making more pitches, no matter how difficult it might be to sell that particular story. If a company respects and does not take advantage of interns, then supervisors will not give interns bogus or extreme long-shot assignments that will just embarrass them. The supervisor should also respect the media by not sending interns out on suicide missions that are only going to waste a journalist’s time. Creating mutual trust with your interns is important; give them a real chance to succeed!

• Interns aren’t in it for the money. I believe companies should offer some sort of monetary compensation to interns, even if it is a very small stipend. But, the reality of the industry is that many interns work unpaid or just for school credit. If someone is willing to put in many hours a week toward learning about your business and industry, you best believe they are there to work hard and do their best. An agency should always disclose to a client if there is going to be an intern on an account team, and should not go against the wishes of a client if that client does not feel comfortable with intern assistance. But, in non-agency PR internships, there are plenty of opportunities for pitches to be made by interns. If an eager, wide-eyed, unpaid intern is working just as hard (if not harder) than some of your full-time staff, why not give them a shot?

Of course, it is not always appropriate for interns to make pitches, and supervisors should use good judgement when it comes to making pitching opportunities available to interns. But just because someone has the label “intern” does not mean that person cannot gather a proven track record and gain more responsibility and independence with projects over time.

If your intern’s responsibilities are to get coffee, takes notes and sit back while everyone else contributes; you will get exactly out of that intern what you are putting in. If you teach your interns, allow hands-on experience with different projects and show that you have faith in their work, you are going to have a contributing staff member. Try to walk in an intern’s shoes once in a while, and think about what kinds of new opportunities you can make available for them to be part of.

What do you think? Should interns make pitches? Should they not? What other learning experiences should interns have?