One of the questions that I get asked a lot, especially when a company is in a growth phase, is if they should take on interns. The number one reason I hear when I ask, "Why do you want interns?" They say, "Free labor." Well, it's not really free labor, and let's talk about why. 

I did internships a long time ago when I started my marketing agency, and it did a few things for me. At that time, I had a lot of time on my hands but not a lot of resources. I was able to dedicate my time to interns. To teach them to educate them. to give them feedback. If you have a lot of time and can put together an internship program, do proper onboarding, create tasks, spell out what the tasks are, followup on the tasks, answer questions, mentor, and direct, then an internship is a great way to go.These are individuals who really want to get to the next step in their careers. Giving them ways and places to play, explore and learn different skills is a benefit to them. But that does not happen on its own. 

If you think you can take an internship, especially an unpaid school internship, and say, "Okay, go do this task" and then let them go, it really shouldn't be that way. You want to think about it as if you're going to get cheap or no-cost labor. There's something that energetically has to give back. and then there is usually an educational experience piece or a piece of your time. My interns did not focus on client stuff. They did internal fun things. They reported to the art director and to me. Then they might do some entry-level stuff, and then the team member takes over and finishes. All my team members, I can tell you, came from my internships. Without a doubt.Hands down. It was great because I got to know these individuals and then bring them on. A lot of my interns I'm still close to. I went to one of their weddings last month. and this is from when he was my intern over ten years ago. I've been to baby showers and I have one that's for a good friend of mine. I have others that are still doing some subcontract work for me. The relationships I built with those interns, a lot of them, have been really long-lasting. which has been amazing. 

When you think about taking on an internship, you really want to look at how much time you have to dedicate to it. Time is money. I had a lot of time and little resources at that point in my business career. I was able to dedicate my time. But if you're at a place where we don't have much time, an intern is probably not the best plan for you. You better spend the money that you have, that resource, to hire someone who already knows what they're doing. Because an intern, you're going to have a little bit, because it is an apprenticeship pretty much, you're going to have a little bit of education and teaching them and energy given to them. If you don't, you're setting yourself up to fail. It is either they are going to have a bad experience or I've also seen interns go and badmouth people on Google reviews and Open Door, the company site that talks about how it is to work within a company. I have seen it go really wrong. My suggestion is to really ask yourself the question, "Is this something I have a lot of time to dedicate or, if I don't, do I have the money to hire someone appropriately to do this? You're going to be wasting more money  spending your time trying to teach them. 

One of the things that I do in my consulting is help manage interns. I am always aware of how much of my time is spent setting up the internship, giving directions on the internship, and ensuring they know where to go. A lot of times, a business owner does the day-to-day management, but the "what do you need?", the strategy behind it, the education that they need, a lot of that comes from me. What I do is I look at what my time percentage is of that and then I look at how many hours interns are giving and if it would be more beneficial for the client to hire someone else to do that than for me to give the advice and education. What's really cool when I'm doing it, that I take into consideration, is what the business owner learns. They can learn about SEO, and they can learn about ads, and they can learn about newsletters. They can learn about all these pieces as I'm working with the interns on it. It is a benefit to them. I'm always conscious of that balance of money versus time and if it's worthwhile. If you're here and you still say, "You know what, I have the time, I can give that time to an intern." Then internships can be a great great thing. 

I would make sure that your job description is completely with the tasks that you want and really think that through and then try to attract someone that's going to be in a career path where that's going to be a great space. Make sure what you're asking them to do you know, and if you don't know, then hire someone that can help guide them. Even if I spend 30 minutes guiding and that person spends 20 hours doing it, it's still more valuable than hiring an expert in that space. You want to do that cost analysis to see if it's valuable. I do not believe in ever taking on an intern in a space that you do not understand or do not have a consultant that understands, because if you are not, you are doing the intern a disservice. 

Their job is not to bring you knowledge. If you want that, then pay someone. Or do a low-paying job to bring someone on that can do that work. If you're going for a true intern, you're going more for an apprenticeship, you're going more to have someone have educational experience with you, then set it up that way. I've had great experiences with interns. I probably have interns again someday. When I have the space to really dedicate and give value to them, Some of my interns in the past have become my best employees and some of my best friends. There you go. That was a lot really quickly. I know again, you might get tired of it. I don't give you a black or white, yes, or no, answer. It really does depend on where you're at in your business, how much time you have to give and how much support and direction you receive.