5 Reasons Why It’s Awesome to Hire Interns

I feel the need to warn you that I am biased on this topic. I love interns. So much that I was (an extra) in the movie about interns, and later built a business around them. Now please enjoy my post :)

Generally, hiring an intern is a win-win situation. At its most basic, a company derives the benefit of an extra set of hands to help out while the intern gets valuable experience, training and contacts for the future, but beyond providing additional power to your workforce, I’ve found that investing in an intern can have a positive and powerful effect on your company culture. Here’s five reasons why.

1) Interns Will Energize Your Company

As a new team member excited to learn, interns often come into the company armed with positivity, gratitude and enthusiasm to spare. Since this is an opportunity for them to gain valuable experience in a short period of time, their willingness to take on tasks and responsibilities and to help out often provides a positive influence on the rest of the team. What’s more, good interns can shake up the status quo. The best employees are adaptable and quick on their feet—a new intern will bring fresh ideas to the table and ask questions that will keep existing employees on their toes in the best possible way.

2) They’re Tech-Savvy

By and large, most new interns are young—either fresh out of college or still in school. As such, they’re often in touch with social and technological innovations, which can often prove useful to the company. Don’t be surprised if they introduce apps, processes or software that help your company increase efficiency and productivity.

If your company is on social media (which it should be!), your intern could be the best source of feedback on how your social endeavors are doing.

3) They Bring a New Social Dynamic

There’s nothing worse than getting stuck in a rut. In my experience, a new intern provides an interesting challenge to existing teams and routines, as employees will have to reorganize their schedules and projects in order to train, accommodate and incorporate a new hire. This is especially true for small to mid-sized companies, where the addition of one extra team member will be strongly felt. The resulting new social and organizational dynamic encourages existing employees to be flexible and accommodating while also teaching your workforce how to collaborate dynamically.

4) Interns Act as Brand Ambassadors

As enthusiastic company insiders, interns have the capacity to be powerful brand ambassadors for the services or products you offer, and while positive public exposure is always a plus, interns can also be powerful brand representatives within the company. Being exposed to anything long enough can cause it to become commonplace, and an intern’s fresh insights and excitement regarding your offerings might just help existing employees see your products in a fresh new light. Furthermore, I’ve found that asking an outgoing intern for honest feedback at the end of their stint is a great way to get some insight into what’s working and what’s not.

5) They Promote Learning

While you’re expected to educate your intern about your company and industry, you’re just as likely to learn a thing or two from them. It’s simple: Interns coming to you straight out of school will have the most up-to-date education. You’d be surprised how much the things being taught in school change from year to year. An internship can be an excellent opportunity for your company and your intern to learn reciprocally from each other, giving you both a leg up on the competition.

So if you’re on the fence about hiring an intern, remember that the potential benefits go far beyond the tangible. In fact, sometimes an intern is just what your company could use, as long as they’re qualified to do the job. Oh – and did I mention? You can go to WayUp.com to find qualified students for your team today!

P.S. Yes, I’m aware that hiring an intern is a lot of work, but at the end of the day, I very rarely hear that the investment in the intern isn’t worth it in the long-run… for both the employer and the intern!