Supporting Your Intern
To maximize your benefit from your student intern, welcome them and prepare them to be successful. Think about what they need to know and who they need to know to rapidly become an effective, productive employee/worker.
- Notify them before their first day where to park and how to access the building.
- Outline an orientation for the first day of work.
- Include the necessary paperwork to be included as a regular member of your work/volunteer force.
- Provide them with an employee/volunteer manual.
- Introduce them to their co-workers and others they need to know.
- Outline emergency procedures, etc.
- Introduce them to their supervisor and allow time for them to visit, get acquainted and talk over the job/performance expectations.
- Establish a well supplied workplace for them.
Notify the student's co-workers ahead of the student's start that an intern will be joining them, the assignments the intern will have and the relationship they will have with the student. Encourage them to be helpful and supportive of the student.
Internship Supervisor
The intern’s supervisor should be the person who reviews and signs the Learning Agreement. The supervisor should keep a copy of that Agreement to aid in periodic monitoring of the student in achieving the internship objectives.
Selecting and preparing the student’s supervisor is an important part of your student being able to meet your expectations as well as fulfilling the student’s expectations of the internship experience. The internship supervisor should have these qualities:
- Committed to the internship program
- Positive communicator, engaging and effective
- Open to questions and able to answer them in understandable ways
- Open, approachable and available for consultation
- Serves the students as an instructor, teaching them what they need to know to do their job well and to expand their understanding of the organization and the career field.
- Has a natural way of treating the student professionally and respectfully.
It is optimum if the supervisor prepares a process to close the internship at the end, providing feedback on performance and professional development with guidance toward continuing improvement.
Internship Mentor
The student benefits greatly from having a mentor in the organization. This is someone who nurtures and encourages the student to be the best they can be and perform to the best of their ability. This person exemplifies and draws out from the student the highest professional standards of performance and ethical conduct. The mentor is a role model. Often, the supervisor fills the role of the mentor, but the mentor may be someone else so the supervisor/employee/volunteer relationship remains dominant rather than the dual role of supervisor and mentor.
If any problems develop, notify the university as soon as is prudent. We want you to have a successful experience and to help you resolve problems quickly.