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Hello,

I was just wondering how other people feel about bringing on an Intern? Do people find them to be useful or too much hassle??

6 Responses

  • Mar 31, 2010

    Chief Client Repellant & Idea Munger

    Hi Daniel,
    Depends on the intern.

    I've had an experience with an intern who was absolutely passionate about our line of work (at the time: advertising/design) and she was better than most of the paid staff. She progressed to Creative Director pretty fast.

    Since then I've had several interns, of which (to use a quote that someone mentioned yesterday regarding this same issue)most were "...a wastes of human protein..." Ironically, the unpaid interns were much more committed (and more cordial and easier to get along with) than the paid interns.

    I hope this helps.
    Best,
    Mark

  • Mar 31, 2010

    Brand Marketing Consultant

    I agree with Mark. It depends on the intern, but not just on their work ethics and interests.

    Thankfully, I’ve had several great interns; all with a level of skill, interest, and drive. To ensure a win-win, I break tasks down into chunks and timeframes. So an intern may have a three-to-six month task during which I assess their level of competency and especially interest. After a period of demonstrated success, an intern can “graduate” to a paid long-term assignment.

    What are you looking to accomplish Daniel and what type of person will it take to help you achieve? Knowing these answers will help you determine if it’s feasible to employ an intern and where you search for great candidates.

  • Apr 04, 2010

    Brand Marketing Consultant

    Daniel, et. al.

    You'll want to read this NYT article: Growth of Unpaid Internships May Be Illegal, Officials Say

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/business/03intern.html?src=mv

    ie

  • Apr 14, 2010

    President, Chief Software Creator

    Thank you for the link Isha! The article helped clarify some of the laws/expectations around unpaid internships.

    Thanks,
    Jon

  • Jun 15, 2010

    CEO

    Has anyone had any experience with interns from a local college? The college I graduated from has an intern program in the digital media department that is mandatory and I was considering approaching them about joining, but I don't know what it entails. I was thinking of having the intern position be in charge of our mailers, fliers, web maintenance, etc. This would be unpaid.

What do you think?

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