Student internship placements (often called “co-ops”in Canada, UK, Australia and parts of Europe) are a great way to inject fresh blood into your business. High schools and colleges offer programs that allow their students to earn credits toward their diploma in exchange for free or discounted labor and skills. The compensation usually coincides with the skills an employer requires.
Best, you might just be getting the change to groom a future employee, with reduced financial risk during their training period…
For instance, high school students might approach you to take them on as an intern at your gym or flower shop because they want to work in your field some day. In such cases, remuneration will be for school credits and/or real-world experience gained.
If you’re in need of someone with structural engineering skills, or other specialised knowledge, skilled students from local colleges might work for you in exchange for college credits and/or discounted wages in exchange for the mentorship you can offer them.
Though there are risks involved with offering student internship placements in your business, the risk is really no different than hiring “qualified” people to do the same jobs, in most cases. The advantages are plenty including saving money, filling gaps in your staff quickly, adding a zest of new energy to your staff, and others that are detailed down below.
1. Cost saving benefits of offering student internship placements.
Students can indeed make mistakes which will cost your business money. There’s no getting past this reality and you need to expect that some expenses will increase, particularly during the training period. However, if you’re not paying them a salary, or paying them much less than you would for someone experienced in the position they fill, it’s almost impossible that going the internship route won’t save your business money. If it does, management is to blame for not catching the interns slip-ups before they get out of hand.
2. Ability to fill temporary gaps in your staff quickly
High school and college grads can be hired quickly for student internship placements in your company, without the red tape that high schools and college institutions would require for you to give their students jobs that provide them with a school credit. Even if there is some red tape involved in official school programs, most institutions realise that your time is valuable and they don’t want to put a sour taste in a business owner’s mouth by making them jump through hoops and succumb to multiple interviews in order to facilitate a placement.
3. Instant shift in energy (passion) in your staff and service levels.
Young people are full of energy, enthusiastic, eager to learn, and not yet sullied or embittered by the realities of a life spent doing something that makes them miserable. Though I’m being somewhat tongue-in-cheek, we all know that sometimes professionals and working adults seem enthused in the initial interview, then quickly start to show signs of how much they hate the work after they’re hired. Interns, regardless of the nature of the work, often have little-to-no experience and will show up every day with enough enthusiasm for everyone on your staff.
4. Recognition from local community.
You’ll be a hero for giving back to your community. Your local community and media will recognise your business for offering student internship placements. Who among us, especially parents, can help but appreciate a business that chooses to offer their time and expertise, while also assuming the financial risks involved in hiring interns? This goes for your industry community too; they’ll appreciate that you’re willing to pay it forward and help the next group of professionals learn their craft.
5. Tax benefits (in most locales).
In most cases, tax benefits are only offered if you’re paying your co-op students, which not all businesses are keen to do. In fact, if you’re taking on high school students so they can get a mandatory co-op credit, paying them might not even be an option as secondary schools don’t allow their students to be paid while they’re essentially “going to school” at your business. However, here in Canada, employers can claim a tax credit for up to 30% of a student’s wages (up to $3,000 per year).
6. The rewards of mentorship.
You know, that same warm and fuzzy feeling that comes from teaching your child how to walk, throw a ball, drive a car? There’s just no matching the feeling of accomplishment a mentor feels when they’ve taught their charge how to do something that will benefit them throughout their life or career.
Have you ever had an intern work at your business?
If so, how was the experience — positive or negative?
Main Image Credit: Eden, Janine and Jim/Flickr
