The Tribune

By Aqeela Romer

AS we near the summer months and our high school and college students prepare to take their breaks, the market place will soon again be flooded with youngsters vying for summer internships and summer employment. In our very archaic system of hiring summer workers, sometimes only those well connected land the choice jobs leaving sometimes the very bright and gifted defenceless. Most places of business, even smaller companies, recognize that an act of their corporate social responsibility is demonstrated in the securing and mentorship of students during their break period. There is much to be gained in nurturing our youth both for the business and for the interns.

This article provides some guidelines for securing the best interns and summer students. Here are top tips for companies implementing this year’s summer job placement programmes:

Interns must be screened and taken through the normal human resource sourcing and recruitment requirements just like other employees. The student must never feel that they are being privileged because of some corporate connections. We have raised too many generations of young people who feel entitled because of parentage or other associations.

Interns must be assigned to specific tasks. The intern must never be given menial assignments or those jobs other full time employees refuse to do. This must be a period of learning and imparting of knowledge. This will only happen if deliberate project assignments with clear deliverables are organized for the students.

Instil in the mind of the intern that they are extensions of the company’s brand and that their actions adversely or positively affect the organization. Additionally, interns should be protected from office vices, including intermittent intimate relationships. Interns are often quite innocent and vulnerable and should not be taken advantage of.

Looking for good interns? Here are five top competencies and skills of this year’s brightest and best:

Enthusiasm. For many interns the summer engagement is merely about fulfilling college credit hours and requirements, while others are purely about the money they will earn to help with books, clothes, etc. Enthusiastic employees though, who are truly excited about the learning potential get the best results. This energy level though must be appropriately channelled. Some youngsters with an overabundance of “hype” can become quite burdensome.

Willingness to learn. Guard yourselves of the “know it all” interns. Ensure you identify interns who are open to learning, who will ask the right questions and who will make a positive contribution to your company. Good evidence of this willingness to learn is the ability to accept and respond favourably to constructive criticism.

Communication a must! Great interns are awesome communicators. This facilitates better teamwork, problem solving, excellent customer service and provides a tenor for a professional work environment. You do not want an intern whose communication skills will damage your brand.

Commitment, Trust and Integrity. You cannot afford to have to invest in an intern who does the job half way resulting in one of your regular employees having to clean up the mess. There must be a high level of devotion to the projects assigned and reliability on behalf of the student to get the job done to standard. Assignments must be clearly understood then, with deliverables outlined for each student. Students with good work ethics and high moral standards make the best interns. Seek them out!

Flexibility. Youth are perhaps most celebrated for their great ability to multi-task. A great intern is one who is able to adapt to a variety of tasks prioritizing what’s more important or crucial to the company. Having interns who are open to doing a variety of things will make the experience more enjoyable and successful for both intern and the organization.

If you need assistance securing GREAT and vetted interns for the summer to work on special projects and assignments, contact Aqeela Romer at the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation 242.322.2145 or aqeela@thebahamaschamber.com.