How to Create and Implement a Successful Internship

ProgramPeter J. GallanisEditor-in-ChiefPreston Publications

NEED: What can an Intern do for you?

Provide affordable labor to relieve staff of lower-level (back-of-the-book) functions in order to concentrate on higher-level tasks.

Buyer’s Guide Research Product write ups/acquire art

What can an Intern cond.

News stories (Web or hard copy) Briefs Attend shows, take pictures Conduct Q & A interviews Copy editing Talk about you and your company—spread

goodwill.

Expectations: What an Intern can’t (or shouldn’t) do for you

Complicated stories—especially engineering, medical, or technology type.

Get stolen or assigned tasks from those outside your influence. They are not the office flunky!

Open your mail Answer your phones Fetch your dry cleaning, shine your shoes, or

walk your dog.

Have a plan

Know what you want before you post for the position.

Where do I find these wonderful people?

Columbia College—Free! ASBPE Web site—Free! Northwestern University—Free! Loyola University—Free! Roosevelt University—Free! Journalismjobs.com—Free! Craigslist.org $25 Monster and Mediabistro are very expensive. EDITOR’S NOTE: I have consistently received the

best responses from journalismjobs and Craigslist.

Posting the Job

Remember, you’re not just looking for an Intern, you’re looking for an employee and must treat the process as such.

Make it clear what you want—and don’t. J Majors get first priority. Upper Classmen? Minimal GPA (3.0) Required hours, days, etc. “Flexible,” works

well.

Posting cond.

On or off-site? I suggest on. Require published stories. (Research papers

don’t count) Always post “Local Candidates Only.” If you

don’t you’ll get resumes from all over the world and probably will anyway.

Posting again

Make it clear you want a cover letter that will WOW you. Why? Because 1. if the cover letter doesn’t wow you the intern's work won’t wow your readers and 2. a cover letter will not have been edited by 10 people before it gets to you and is a great (or not) example of your prospect’s writing skills.

Paid, unpaid, or Class Credit?

Paid is best choice (I pay mine $10 per hour) Monthly stipend w/travel expense. Unpaid will get you rich kids that might not

take the position very seriously. For credit can get you a mixed bag

depending on the prospect.

Responses—How do I make my selection?

First and foremost remember these people are not professionals.

If you get less than 100 responses you did something wrong, or your office is in an obscure location.

Engage your junior editors.

How do I make my selection cond.

It’s all in the cover letter baby! --Cover letter should tell you three things: who they

are, what they’ve done (or can do) and what they can do for you! These are winning letters!

Samples will tell you what you want to know such as: --Writing style and experience level --Eye for details (or lack of) --Editing ability

What to look for in the resume

The usual: well organized, blah, blah, blah, etc.

Multi-tasking ability Quick thinking Creative thinker Go-getter attitude

What to look for cond.

Won’t take no for an answer the first time. A joiner (Member of charity groups, etc.)

EDITOR’S NOTE: Being a member of a fraternity or sorority doesn’t count unless they indicate they were a volunteer for a project they did for said organization or held a leadership position.

What about writing samples dummy!?

If you received a 100 resumes (and you probably will) then your top picks will have those skills.

Max Necessary Lead Time—Six Weeks

Run advertisement for one month—period. One week to review resumes, pick your prospects. One week max to interview candidates. A few hours to make final selection. Call and extend offer. Call everyone you interviewed and deliver the bad

news. EDITOR’S NOTE: I acknowledge by e-mail every

candidate who sends me a resume and send thank you letters to ALL. (Actually I don’t my intern does!)

Interviews

How many do I call? Five. When do I see them? --All in one day if possible. Keep interviews to

one hour each. --All in one week at the latest. The decision maker should attend with their

right hand person and at least one junior editor.

What am I looking for?

How are they dressed? How do they present themselves (eye

contact). When you ask a question, do they answer

quickly or take a lot of time to think? This will tell you a lot.

Do they seem genuinely excited about the position?

What am I looking for cond.

Did they ask questions? If so what kind and did they reference your Web site?

Can they prioritize tasks? Can they work independently? Judge their reaction to roll play questions

such as, “give me an example when you felt you used a go-getter attitude to accomplish a goal.”

The interviews are done, now what? (Selecting the Winner)

Questions you want to ask yourself and your staff: --Does this person have the ability, or at least the

potential to do the job? --Can I count on this person to show up, etc.? --Does this person’s personality match up with ours

and our corporate culture? --Would I want to see / work with this person every

day? Then of course, check their references, make the

offer, set their start date, time, etc.

I got ‘em now what?

As referenced earlier have a plan prior to their start date.

Ensure work load is prepared for them before they arrive.

Match the work load to their experience level. Make sure they have a direct report. A junior editor is

a good choice. Set them up for success, not failure! Give them tasks

that will challenge but not overwhelm them. This one will take a few days to nail down.

Got ‘em cond…

This ought to be a no-brainer but make sure they have a workstation in place including computer, phone, e-mail address. Intern@yourpub.com.

Have them attend all staff meetings, strategy sessions. If you make them feel like they’re part of the team they will act in kind.

Ask them for suggestions/opinions, “engage them.” Initially, keep an eye on them. Identify possible

challenges before tasks are assigned and discuss a plan of action.

Got ‘em one more time

The longer they are there, the more you work with them, the faster they’ll move up the learner curve, the faster they’ll be working independently.

And it would be real nice to take them out for lunch on their first and last day and give them a little present at the end of the internship.

When the internship is over

Give them a written internship evaluation form (they eval you).

Review what went right and wrong and take the necessary steps to correct.

Then do it all over again!

Finally

No animals were harmed in the creation of this presentation.

Questions?