It’s okay if your internship program is on a tight budget. Recruiting and hiring talented students and recent graduates for your internship program does not mean you have to spend a bunch of money. You don’t need to make a list of why your company is the best place to work or talk about some off the wall perks, like that you have a private zoo out back or something crazy like that.
Potential candidates are actually looking for something else. They are looking for an educational, immersive and hands-on internship experience. If you offer this and you know how to promote it, you will be as good as gold.
Keep your budget in check and still recruit and hire great interns with the following tips:
1. Use your social networks to your advantage. You can build your employer brand through social networks and this is a great way to gain awareness and engage potential intern candidates somewhere that they are already active. The best part about using social networking is that it is one hundred percent free.
2. Be creative with your recruiting methods. Job postings are still a great way to get the word out but you can also use multimedia to find interns. You can use video blogs, podcasts, and Google Hangouts as just a few examples of ways to recruit outside of the box.
3. Look beyond job fairs. Building strong educational connections is a low-cost way to recruit top students and recent graduates but most students do not find job fairs useful in finding internships. Instead, get in contact with professional student organizations at schools.
4. Forget about big-name perks. Focus instead on providing your interns with networking, training and mentoring opportunities that will help them out when it comes time for them to start their careers. Instead of bragging about having a café, brag about the great business connections your interns can make.
5. Give them amazing experience. Student interns are looking to gain experience and build a portfolio; this is what they think of as most important for their internship experience. Giving your interns an awesome project won’t cost you anything and can even help to boost your bottom line.
6. Focus on flexibility. Interns crave flexibility. Consider allowing your interns to work from home or a public place at least once a week. Or offer virtual internships.
7. Challenge your potential intern hires. Come up with an intern challenge to attract talented students within your industry.
Even if your intern budget isn’t very big, you can still hire the best interns around. Just be creative and think outside the box a little.
Published by Conselium Executive Search, the global leader in compliance search.
