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Tips: Creating a new Internship Program

Creating a quality internship program has many benefits to you, the student and the university. If you are new to recruiting interns at SJSU, here are some additional tips and information to consider the following:

First Steps

  1. Gain an understanding of an Internship
  2. Develop a recruitment strategy. Have you recruited at SJSU before?
  3. Gain an understanding of Internship Recruitment at SJSU
  4. Do you have the human resources to have an intern? Someone to supervise them and/or mentor them, and provide training?
  5. Is this the right time for you to allocate the time and resources for hiring an intern
  6. Is there someone in your organization who is appropriate to supervise and/or mentor the intern?

Employer Image

Before you decide to hire an intern consider how having an intern fits into your organization's culture and environment.

Ultimately, the quality of the experience, a positive image all impacts the success in building a brand on campus and recruiting qualified applicants.

Why do you want an intern? Is it because you have a meaningful project or want to give a student experience in your field?

This is an opportunity to build your brand, and presence on campus.

Relevant Resource: See InternBridge for more.


10 Steps to a Quality Intern/Co-op Program

  1. Establish clear co-op/internship program goals and objectives.
  2. Solicit and maintain top management support.
  3. Allocate resources.
  4. Assign seasoned human resources representatives to champion the co-op/intern agenda.
  5. Select functional areas appropriate to a true co-op/intern program and plan specific responsibilities, assignments/project criteria, and timelines. Don't disguise routine jobs or "grunt" work as a co-op or internship.
  6. Determine when students will begin and end their assignments. Don't let co-op/intern positions keep going—give as many students as possible the opportunity to filter through.
  7. Set up a budget for student salaries or a stipend based on current market demand and the complexity of work assignments.
  8. Coach managers in effective supervision/mentoring techniques to maximize student training. Reward them for a job well done. Don't assign "green" managers to co-ops and interns.
  9. Understand the dilemma of the academic vs. business cycle—respect the university's main goal of education and its academic schedules.
  10. Institute a hiring process (point person, timing, and evaluation criteria).