Interships: Value for business – need for data

I am a big supporter of internships – they are a fantastic way for students to get started in their careers.

How about business? Could internships be set up to better meet the needs of business?

I love data. I don’t see data on this. I propose a questionnaire be sent to NZ businesses to collect data on what internship process would work best for them.

If the value of interns were to be increased for  companies, businesses will ask for more interns, more students will want to do internships,  creating a virtuous circle for all.

Value is ratio of the  cost  (finding/hiring/training/salary) of   an intern   vs the value they contribute to the business ( productivity,  sales,  creativity, ability to hire them after graduation, etc).

Questionnaire:

1. Ideally, how many days  a week would you like the intern to work?

2. Would you rather have interns work on private projects, on a team doing production work or on non-critical work?

3. What time of year and for how long ( contiguous days) would you prefer to have an intern?

4. How many full days  does it take for an intern to get past the training stage?

5. How many full days does it take for an intern to be highly productive?

6. When you hire an intern, imagine what  would be easiest and most effective for you.

7. What steps in the current intern process are the most wasteful for you? ie take a lot of time, with low return?

8. When selecting an intern, what are the things you would like to know about them

9. What things do you need them to know/have, for them to earn  a professional ( ie non-intern) salary?

10. How many interns do you hire now?

11. What has worked well for you?

12. What has frustrated you?

13. How important is it to you to hire interns full time after graduation?

14. What percent of interns do you eventually hire?

15. How could this be improved?…..