Quick studies: train interns their first day on the job—and every day thereafter—to make them better employees

HR Magazine, May, 2007 by Jean Thilmany

Katie Willoughby spent the first four weeks of her internship last summer in Kansas City, Mo.-based Hallmark Cards Inc.'s marketing department accompanying her boss from one meeting to the next and gathering background information for her data analysis project. She loved every minute of it.

Janell Rodriguez, a 2005 engineering intern at National Instruments in Austin, Texas, was able to field complex customer questions on the workings of her company's data acquisition technology after spending two weeks learning the ins and outs of the intricate hardware. She spent another three days getting the hang of her company's phone system and learning how to best answer callers' questions by asking her own pointed questions.

In Salem, Mass., Daiana Rosario spent her first day as a Peabody Essex Museum 2003 summer intern at an orientation conducted by her future colleagues in the human resource department. Before interning in the museum's human resource department, Rosario barely knew what HR does. After interning, she decided to make HR her major.

These interns were able to gain valuable work experience and make meaningful contributions in a short amount of time because the companies provided them with a thorough orientation. In fact, companies that make the best use of student interns continue to train them long after orientation ends, and often as long as the internship lasts, says Matthew Zinman, president of Z University, a workforce readiness company in Newtown, Pa., that specializes in interns.

"It's so critical to set the tone for the internship," says Zinman. "You're bringing students in and acclimating them right away."

The type of training interns receive depends on the goals each employer has for its internship program, Zinman says.

Setting Expectations

The companies with the most successful internship programs treat interns as actual employees rather than summer-term gofers, giving them significant responsibilities related to their field of study. These organizations also work to orient interns to the workplace, Zinman says. Sure, interns need to know how to work with the software they'll be using, but they also need to understand the ins and outs of their department and the overall mission of the company. And they need to get a good feel for the projects they'll be undertaking and know where to take their questions.

Providing interns with an appropriate level of training is important at Deutsche Bank, says Kristina Peters, global head of graduate recruiting at the bank in New York.

"We can offer them an addition to what they're learning at their universities by rounding out their education with real-world training and give them additional education they might not receive in school," she says.

Companies like Deutsche Bank, Peabody Essex Museum, Hallmark, IBM and National Instruments see the entire internship as an extended training program. If successful, the training rewards both the intern and the employer.

For instance, a summer intern at Hallmark who meets project goals and makes a successful presentation about that project can generally be assured of a job offer, says Dawn Harp, the company's special project talent acquisitions and placement manager. About 75 percent of the company's interns receive--and accept--full-time job offers, Harp says.

That's what happened to Willoughby. She will begin work as an official Hallmark employee after she earns a marketing degree from the University of Kansas this spring.

Rosario, the Peabody Essex Museum intern who changed her major to HR, now works for the museum full time.

An Exhibit Of Training Savvy

At the Peabody Essex Museum, about 200 high-school and 400 college students work as interns each school semester, says Nancy Hammer, director of HR. Interns attend a two-part orientation session their first days on the job. During the first three-hour session, Hammer talks about the museum's dress code--which varies depending on where the intern works.

Next, students learn about what they can expect when working in a professional environment. Presenter Rosario Ubiera-Minaya, coordinator of the federally funded Museum Action Corps Program at Peabody, keeps in mind that many students have never worked, so they need a crash course in business conduct.

"I talk about how to advocate for yourself, how to talk to your manager, what the culture of an organization means and how that's conveyed," Ubiera-Minaya says.

Training also is tied to the work the intern will perform.

"If they'll be working with equipment or computers, they get an orientation about that," Hammer says. "Departments like guest services have very specific training. They go over the typical questions they get asked, and [they] learn who to call for help."

Department supervisors take turns talking to interns during two-hour weekly meetings held throughout the semester. The managers tell interns about the day-to-day work of their own jobs and discuss their career progressions.

In addition to their departmental work, all interns also spend time working on a special project, Ubiera-Minaya says. In 2004, for example, students made a documentary film about Salem's Point neighborhood, where many of the students live and where the museum is located. The film is still shown in local theaters.