Investing in Interns!

Small businesses are being advised to think hard about the benefits of taking on graduates - the Government is planning on allocating more time and money to invest towards the increase of internships which is said to be a move to aid small and medium sized businesses.

The Graduate Talent Pool scheme, recently launched by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, is aimed at linking graduates with intern schemes at private businesses.

The vice president of the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services, Elspeth Farrar, has pointed out that small businesses often find it tricky to offer intern positions due to financial difficulties but the new move is set to be a fantastic new way of bringing graduates and businesses together.

“It’s not going to be any advantage to students to do internships where they are not getting any value. The SME market is possibly going to be a really good market, as they are an area where few of them would have structured internship programs running anyway,” said Farrar.

Farrar, however, is clear that the scheme depends on businesses taking steps to create realistic places for graduates.  She claimed that employers needed to create “additional, sensible, and meaningful apprenticeship opportunities”.

What is an internship?

The term “internship” originated in the United States - it is the work experience undergone by students in their summer holidays and is a great way for students to get a better grasp and understanding of their selected profession.

Here in Britain the terms is usually labelled a “placement” and is a great chance for students to earn some money whilst gaining the relevant experience they need - it is also a great opportunity for small businesses to open their doors to fresh new talent.

Placements range from jobs based around volunteer work, overseas work and small to medium to large business work in practically all fields.

Small differences…

The process of hiring an intern is very similar to the usual employee procedures - however there are things you need to keep in mind that differ:

•    You need to make sure that there is a specially defined end point to the internship.
•    Remember that the intern won’t be qualified or skilled and will have little or no experience unlike a regular employee hopeful.

However, despite these differences you should still be on the look out for the same qualities in your potential interns as you would in your potential employees.  Keep in mind their strengths, ambitions, abilities and limitations as you would usually.

The Graduate Talent Pool initiated the Department for Innovation is set to introduce 250 short-term placements although this figure is set to double over the next two years.  The placements are being set up through Mini Knowledge Transfer partnerships.

Are interns welcome in your business?

Are you thinking about opening your doors to interns or are you happy to trundle on without collaborating with higher education?  Leave us a comment and let us know…

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