College is almost out for summer. How do you attract the best and brightest college interns to a new summer intern program?
The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the world's most promising young entrepreneurs. The YEC recently published #FixYoungAmerica: How to Rebuild Our Economy and Put Young Americans Back to Work (for Good), a book of 30-plus proven solutions to help end youth unemployment.
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A: Creativity Takes the Cake
College students don't want an internship at a hot, upcoming startup to be an experience similar to an internship at a blue-chip company -- that completely defeats the purpose of choosing to intern for a startup (and let's be honest, we only want interns with a choice). Give them responsibility and encourage their creativity, this will make them feel valued and is worth more than anything.
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A: Retarget Your Market
Instead of getting press on hot blogs like Mashable, ReadWriteWeb and The Next Web, and marketing your internship through Google Ads. Try inbound marketing tactics that'll surely weed out the students who are eager to take any old job, and you'll find interns who are already excited about working with you. Blog about your internship opportunity. Tweet about it. Share it on Facebook.
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A: Plan Non-Work Activities
The best internship programs are not just about the projects on-the-job. The best interns are looking for summer programs that enable them to bond with other interns, learn from executives at the firm, and more. Enhance your internship program with activities outside the workplace for the interns to participate in. Promote these, alongside the projects, to attract the best possible candidates.
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A: Help Them Craft Their Resume
Interns are looking for resume builders. Think of the projects you design for your interns as potential resume bullet points -- the ones that highlight achievements and performance metrics. It's a great way to sell the role, align your team on how to best manage resources and build in clear goals and accountability.
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A: Summer Intern Search? Start Now
Most companies wait until right before the summer starts before they start to look for interns. Be different and start now. You'll stand out and have a chance at the best before they are already taken by other companies.
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A: Join In!
Join in on some of the on-campus events on entrepreneurship and startups. Hungry students will be part of these groups!
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A: Let's Get Physical
There's no better way to recruit than to physically go to internship and job fairs on college campuses. Students will see the energy you and your team have, and will naturally be drawn to your company's table. Taking it a step further, ask former interns to help recruit new ones at these events, so students get a true perspective of the internship.
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A: The Public Speaking Trick
I recently gave a presentation at a local university, without any intention of purpose, and just gave a talk from my heart. That afternoon, I was blown away with internship requests. The faculty said that I was one of the few that really connected with the students. Go out and blow them away, help them on their turf and they will knock down your door to work with you.
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A: Use Your Network to Spread the Word
Advertise the internship through the word of mouth of young professionals who are already working (happily) at your organization. Be very clear about what interns will learn and accomplish over the summer, and don't promise on anything you can't deliver.
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A: Tap Professors You Trust
Professors work hard to make sure that their best and brightest students get great internships. They're the ones that suggest opportunities and help students sort through offers. So you've got to connect with professors. Start with those professors who you've had the chance to personally learn from and then start looking at other academics in your area.
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A: Form Relationships With Organizations
Quickly form relationships with great college programs. For example, we get top-tier talent for the summer by working with the University of MO Entrepreneurship Alliance. The director personally recommends students. This kind of connection makes recruiting easy because you get top talent, while letting someone else is doing most of the vetting.
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A: Be Flexible and Virtual
My interns work remotely and have total flexibility on how and when they get their work done, as long as they meet their deadlines. That means they can travel, have another job, spend a day at the beach or do whatever else they want over the summer -- all while still gaining valuable internship experience. They win on having an awesome summer, and I win in having awesome interns.
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A: Find the Right Channel
Truly examine the role you are looking fill. What tools and channels are those students using to search for openings? Looking for a social media maven? Post listings on Twitter and Facebook. Looking for a sharp developer? Attend (or even host!) a hackathon.
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A: Sell the Learning Aspect
I've structured our intern program so that interns learn a little bit of everything, from writing and social media to search engine optimization. By sharing this in the ad, it helps attract candidates who are really serious about learning and taking part in our company.
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A: The Best and Brightest Are Hidden!
Remember to hire the personality. The best internship hire I ever made had only babysitting experience on her resume. I put the sheet of paper down, took a close look at her personality and trusted my intuition, which proved to be right!
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