Internship Best Practices

Internships may be paid or unpaid positions with menial or skilled responsibilities. When looking at internships it is important to be involved with a successful internship program. What are the best practices used by a business to create a positive internship program and who benefits from these internship programs? The opportunities a student can encounter during an internship can teach you numerous beneficial skills and expose you to opportunities you would not receive during the university experience. Low pay, menial task assignments, and wasting the majority of your workday should not be what you expect or accept in an internship that you want to be an effective tool in your educational process.

The majority of organizations that offer internship programs desire to have successful programs that benefit both the organization and the student. In the article “10 Best Practices for Business Student Internships” found in the academic journal, Strategic Finance, authors Kurt Reding and David O’Bryan discuss 10 practices that organizations should follow in order to have successful internships and the benefits to those involved in the program. Reding and O’Bryan evaluated feedback from previous students involved in internship programs and these organizations themselves to decide the most important factors that companies should implement in order to benefit the company and the student during the process. These practices create a strong foundation for companies to follow and for students to look for when searching for a program.

The first practice is to establish a program with a defined purpose. The companies purpose may be to find prospective, full-time employees once they graduate, temporary employees to fill a company’s immediate ne...

... middle of paper ...

...h the intern after the program is complete.

All of the practices are believed to be the steps that allow an organization to have a successful internship program. When a program is successful the organization, the intern, the university, and the community will all benefit. “High quality programs enable bright students to gain practical knowledge and skills that universities can’t provide and thus contribute greatly to the professional development of future business leaders (Reding & O’Bryan, p. 48). At the end of the experience the intern should be better prepared for a career with an organization in their filed. The internship should be a positive experience that validates the choices the student has made in their education to this point.

Works Cited

Reding, K. & O'Bryan D. "10 Best Practices forBusiness Student Internships". Strategic Finance. October 2013.