{"id":476,"date":"2016-03-08T19:41:29","date_gmt":"2016-03-09T02:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/?p=476"},"modified":"2016-03-08T20:23:29","modified_gmt":"2016-03-09T03:23:29","slug":"get-into-internships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/get-into-internships\/","title":{"rendered":"Get Into Internships"},"content":{"rendered":"

[I Love It<\/strong>] One of my favorite parts of being a manager (and I didn\u2019t anticipate this) is recruiting interns on university campuses. Being part of offering a great opportunity to students right when they need it is very rewarding.<\/p>\n

[Good For Students<\/strong>] A good internship helps a student make a transition from a mostly individual success model to a team success model. I have seen some colleges do a good job encouraging groups to work together in school. Even for these students there is a difference between group projects in school and being part of a team that succeeds or fails all together.<\/p>\n

[Good For Companies<\/strong>] Of course, people who employ interns tend to get a great deal. It isn\u2019t uncommon for our interns to get rave reviews from their team mates and Product Owners. They\u2019re enthusiastic and eager to achieve. You can pay them more than they are used to and still be very cost effective.<\/p>\n

Recommendations: For Managers and Students Getting Into Internships.<\/h2>\n

All employement should result from a fit between the needs of an individual and the needs of the company. Keep this in mind and you should always find special satisfaction in searching for and finding that fit.<\/p>\n

Internships often have a built in expiration date that makes them particularly useful for both students and new managers: both have an escape clause in case the fit wasn\u2019t great.<\/p>\n

In my experience, if the fit is there then internships are often extended. Again, this benefits both the company and the intern.<\/p>\n

Even when the fit is there and the internship has to end you have made a new contact in your network.<\/p>\n

To Managers:<\/h3>\n
    \n
  • 1. Recruit your own interns<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • 2. Require evidence that they will immediately contribute<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • 3. Polish your hiring skills by using them \u2013 A LOT<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • 4. Prepare to give plenty of supervision<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    To Candidates:<\/h3>\n
      \n
    • 5. Apply before you are ready<\/strong><\/li>\n
    • 6. Be honest and do your best<\/strong><\/li>\n
    • 7. If you\u2019re hired plan to over-communicate<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      To Managers:<\/h2>\n

      1. Recruit Your Own Interns<\/h3>\n

      If you are going to have an intern then you should take part in the recruiting process. This gives you the best chance to find an intern that will fit well with your team.<\/p>\n

      I participate in a recruiting program for the entire company. We interview hundreds of interns for scores\u00a0of slots. Each of us tries to represent a standard, uniform bar.<\/p>\n

      Still, it is very difficult for that bar to be uniform.<\/p>\n

      If you\u2019re going to have an intern on your team then you should get out to the schools and do as much of the finding and interviewing as possible. It is impossible to know as much about a candidate from notes as you can by interviewing in person — no matter how robust the interviewing culture.<\/p>\n

      And many interviewing cultures are not that robust at all.<\/p>\n

      2. Require Evidence That They Will Immediately Contribute<\/h3>\n

      Even the best intern will generally come to you with less experience and judgment than a senior hire. That doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t expect a lot.<\/p>\n

      Every year I find gems at the schools I visit who have amassed plenty of evidence that they can contribute on a team from day one. Sure, they will need time to settle in. There will be some adjustment to working on a team, and working at your place. But they will deliver value right away.<\/p>\n

      To prepare yourself to find these gems ask yourself what is the clearest sign of success for a junior member of your team. Now go about looking for those signs with the candidates you interview.<\/p>\n

      You will probably have a different set of indicators than me. But for reference here are mine:<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Can they code?<\/li>\n
      2. Can they disagree and commit?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        I evaluate both questions by giving my candidates simple coding challenges that they have to solve with me<\/em> during the interview. I spend some time on behavioral questions and asking a bit about their background. But the majority of the time is a coding audition.<\/p>\n

        This isn\u2019t the same process I use for senior hires. I use it for interns, and I\u2019ve had great success.<\/p>\n

        Of course, there are going to be candidates with great potential that can\u2019t quite code yet. That\u2019s OK. I hope they interview with me again in 6 months. If not, then that\u2019s not the end of the world either. Not for me. Not for them.<\/p>\n

        3. Polish Your Hiring Skills By Using Them \u2013 A LOT<\/h3>\n

        Recruiting interns I routinely interview 12 to 15 candidates\u00a0a day.<\/p>\n

        I read a lot of resumes. I ask a lot of questions. I do a lot of probing. I do a lot of coaching.<\/p>\n

        I get a lot of practice seeing good and bad qualities in a lot of candidates. I have to make a lot of hire\/no-hire recommendations. I have to take a lot of detailed notes so that I can support the other managers that are hiring from the same pool.<\/p>\n

        You meet a lot of people. You get a lot of first impressions. And you gather and process a lot of data on a relentless timeline.<\/p>\n

        This is good.<\/p>\n

        Most managers hire very infrequently. That makes it hard to have good hiring skills. And the skills you do have go to seed as you neglect to use them.<\/p>\n

        Go out and interview a lot. Hire a handful of interns a year. Get to see the results of your judgment again and again.<\/p>\n

        It\u2019s good for you.<\/p>\n

        4. Prepare To Give Plenty Of Supervision<\/h3>\n

        When you do bring an intern on board give them meaningful work and lot\u2019s of guidance. Meet with them daily or delegate it to a sharp direct.<\/p>\n

        Mentoring an intern is a great way to grow a direct that is hoping to qualify for promotion.<\/p>\n

        Be prepared for the intern to under communicate his challenges. Keep an eye on their progress. Let them know they are making a valuable contribution.<\/p>\n

        As a manager, now is NOT<\/strong>\u00a0the time to sit back and see what happens.<\/p>\n

        I remember that during my first internship I sometimes went several days between substantive discussions with my manager or team mates about what I was working on. I treated the workplace like a large and quiet library. Every door had an automatic \u201cDO NOT DISTURB\u201d sign in my mind.<\/p>\n

        That\u2019s the way I had done homework. But that\u2019s not the way you do team work. You might have to help your intern through that transition.<\/p>\n

        To Candidates:<\/h2>\n

        My recommendations to managers (above) should be a helpful reference to candidates as well. In addition, here\u2019s some advice just to you interns.<\/p>\n

        5. Apply Before You Are Ready<\/h3>\n

        A lot of students that are preparing for a software career are detail oriented, perfection-seeking, high achievers. That\u2019s good. You\u2019re going to be great!<\/p>\n

        Unfortunately, this can lead you to delaying all sorts of things while you are making it right.<\/p>\n

        You need to realize that there is a big difference between school and work. And the only way to really prepare is to start working in your field.<\/p>\n

        Workshops can help. Coaching can help. Mentors can help.<\/p>\n

        But if you aren\u2019t careful you will find that your careful preparation has left you unprepared. There is a difference between theory and practice that you can only begin to learn with practice.<\/p>\n

        Apply before you think you are ready. Give it a real go. Act as if you are<\/em> ready. As a matter of fact, you might be!<\/p>\n

        If you get a good offer and you\u2019re not sure whether to accept it, that\u2019s a good problem to have. Much better than graduating with a 4.0 and not prepared to transition into a job.<\/p>\n

        6. Be Honest And Do Your Best<\/h3>\n

        In the interview be honest about what you know and what you don\u2019t know. We can tell when you\u2019re making things up.<\/p>\n

        If you don\u2019t know the answer to a question then you must start your answer with, \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

        If you do know how to find the answer then give that answer after admitting that you don’t really know.<\/p>\n

        I\u2019ve had many candidates say, \u201cI don’t know for sure, but I believe it is something along the lines of\u2026\u201d and their answer was so good that they didn’t lose any points for not being absolutely sure.<\/p>\n

        7. Plan To Over-Communicate<\/h3>\n

        If you do get hired then plan to overcommunicate. (See point #4 above.)<\/p>\n

        This does NOT mean talk a lot. Everyone you are working with is going to be very busy.<\/p>\n

        When I say, \u201cOver Communicate\u201d this has more to do with frequency of communications than the size of those communications.<\/p>\n

        Be clear on what you are assigned to accomplish. Predict the progress you will make and communicate that to your supervisor. Let her know when you will be late. Let her know when you have delivered. Let her know when you are blocked.<\/p>\n

        Often your supervisor or team mates will say little when you communicate. This doesn\u2019t mean it was wasted effort. Keep communicating your progress, deliveries, and blockers.<\/p>\n

        On your first few days it will probably be appropriate to communicate your status every few hours. By your second week you\u2019ll probably be communicating status once a day. Don\u2019t communicate less than once a day until asked to.<\/p>\n

        Conclusion<\/h2>\n

        Internships can deliver great value to a company and rapid growth to a candidate. Invest in them and you can change someone\u2019s life \u2013 even your own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        [I Love It] One of my favorite parts of being a manager (and I didn\u2019t anticipate this) is recruiting interns on university campuses. Being part of offering a great opportunity to students right when they need it is very rewarding. [Good For Students] A good internship helps a student make a transition from a mostly… Continue reading Get Into Internships<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[56,154,155,57],"class_list":["post-476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-applying","category-executive","tag-hiring","tag-interns","tag-internships","tag-interviewing","wow fadeInUp","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=476"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":482,"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476\/revisions\/482"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}