Interns are both a pain and a blessing. I think a lot of times most people will chalk it up to luck if you get a good intern. However, I think it’s a combination of factors at play.
First Steps
Expectation Management
This is the most crucial of all steps. Most of the time, the miscommunication arises due to a mismatch in expectations. It is important to check the following with your new found minion:
- What he/ she wants to achieve at the end of the internship
- What you can offer
- If there are constraints is there some compromise?
Next, what you would expect:
- Perhaps insane amount of overtime — Would your minion be agreeable to foregoing personal time to do your bidding (Mua ha ha ha ha ha ha)
Goal Setting
From experience, the goals for most interns are to learn something and I always joke with them, knowing the types of coffee and timing of the when I would like my coffee is a critical skill, at least in the project.
Helping your minion set a goal and stretching them a bit further is a good way to help them to grow.
Goal setting requires two things:
- Something measurable
- Done within a certain amount of time
Next Step
Instruction and Deadline
If things go wrong 99% of the time, the fault lies with the person staring at you in the mirror.
Clear concise instructions are important. Deadlines that go with the instructions are equally important.
I normally choose to get my interns to repeat my instructions in their own words to ensure they have understood my requirements, fully.
Admin stuff
This is the part I hate about internships (and work in general). There is no value add except to generate toilet paper (documentation/ reports) for management.
Project log
It is important to create a habit of reflection at the end of the day with your minion.
This helps to assess:
- How far they are from their goal
- What they learnt for the day
- What is missing and can be worked on tomorrow
Meeting with professor
This can be a pleasant surprise from time to time. In a small country like Singapore where there are only a few universities, your minion may be trained by your old professor and it’s a good catchup session.
Most of the time, your minions have been awesome and in turn, give them a good appraisal. I have not had an intern that was totally crap and warranted a bad review.
Closing and goodbye
Advising their career
It is also good to advise your peons and help guide them through making a career choice. If you are experienced enough to take on interns, you should have worked for a while and deemed responsible enough to handle leadership. Guiding them to making a career choice they will enjoy will help to close the relationship on a positive note.
Keeping in touch
Like every internship, it will end, in 3 months to a year. With technology it is easier to keep in touch and just meet up once in a while for drinks. Minions could turn to bosses in future, you never know ☺
