Why You Should Hire Interns In Your Startup (Updated 2023)

 

We were planning to conduct a small workshop for business owners. There were a lot of activities to be done – Like sending invitations, confirming attendance, booking the venue, printing promotional materials, etc. Now, the problem was, we didn’t want to hire someone full-time just for this as it would involve more time and money.
Fortunately, we came across a few sites that help employers to hire interns who were looking for summer internships. It was a win-win situation for both of us. They worked with us for 2 months and helped us with a lot of small activities.

As an employer, hiring an intern has a lot of benefits apart from low costs. Hiring interns is an excellent way to build your company. Employees make up the company and it is paramount to have employees who are the right fit according to organizational values.

A typical job interview provides a day at the maximum with a prospective employee which may or may not be enough time to judge an individual on all parameters.
This is especially true about hiring freshers with no relevant experience and there is no definite way of predicting if the individual will succeed in the organization. But offering internships adequately reduces this risk as it provides for a longer term to judge the performance.

Simply hiring based on high grades or excellent extracurricular activities is a superficial technique. This is why many top companies including McKinsey and Royal Dutch Shell hire mainly through offering Pre Placement Offers to their interns.

Here are the top 5 benefits of hiring interns for your company:

1. Fresh ideas:
It is not uncommon for interns to provide new ideas or suggest an alternative approach to work that is much better than the current technique.
Although most of the ideas are not what can be called “earth-shattering” fresh ideas help erode a lot of biases that build up by working on the same type of projects over and over again without giving a second thought to improvisations or improvements.
Since the students are new to corporate life, they are eager to prove their mettle and this is one feature a company can put to good use.

 

2. Short-Term Projects:
It is not necessary to hire interns to place them as full-time employees in the end. Many students are willing to work in an organization just for the sake of gaining work experience to add brownie points to their CVs and such individuals can be used to complete short-term projects.
Many start-ups are capitalizing on this as most of the work that they have does not require a lot of technical expertise and only requires a sharp mind to get the job done.

 

3. Students are Tech Savvy:
More often than not student interns in an organization are more tech-savvy than regular employees which helps them do their work in a shorter period.
Be it a presence on social media or giving PowerPoint presentations, bets are the geeky intern will do it better than your favorite employee.

 

4. Improve company reputation:
As mentioned earlier top companies generally recruit interns as a rule and it is a great way to improve brand value in top universities. However, a top internship program is necessary to hire top talent.

 

5. Less pay, more work:
Student interns are not very stingy about how much pay they receive with most of them concerned about the quality of the project that they get to work on.

Many students would not think twice about foregoing a stipend altogether if they believe that the project helps them increase their knowledge and skills.
Internships are a mutually beneficial experience for both the recruiter and the recruited. It is not for nothing that there are so many websites dedicated to helping students to find the right internships.

Also, Check – 30 Cost-Saving Ideas For Your Business

A good performance at one’s internship may help the student bag that coveted job and even if it does not, there are a myriad of other benefits which make it impossible for students not to seek out an internship offer.

But if you are at the end of the day paying a good stipend to your interns or just want to manage your other employee’s salary you can use ProfitBooks’s payroll feature to do so.

 

1. Knowledge development: Any working person would testify that a very small fraction of what he/she has learned through theory in college significantly affects how they are performing today and the percentage keeps going south as one’s experience increases. A holistic knowledge about the job is more important which is easily gained in an internship.

 

2. Interpersonal Skill development: Just coming in contact with so many people in a company does wonders for a student’s confidence. And as young people have a natural tendency to get acquainted with as many people as they can get, shyness and hesitation automatically take a backseat in one’s mind.

 

3. Network development: The contacts formed during an internship can prove to be the building blocks of one’s career. Along with helping to secure a job in the corresponding company, the contacts can be used as references too when job hunting elsewhere.

A study says that about 52 percent of undergraduate students go through internships. Of these 54% grab an internship through on-campus interviews, 23 % find the internships using a job posting or from a resume database, 19% through a tailored job search which includes using one’s contacts, and 4% from other sources. But with the ultrafast growth rate of data on the internet (over 90% has been created in the last 2 years) a higher share of the ‘intern market’ is bound to shift online as is the case with everything else from e-commerce to e-learning.

 

Here is a list of the best websites to hire interns:

Networking sites are the best way to search for candidates since they make it easy to filter out people with the right qualifications.

1. AlmaConnect:
Although as a recruiter you cannot directly post your requirements for hiring interns on this website, you can ask any of your employees who have an account to post it for you. All the major educational institutes in the country including the IITs and IIMs are registered on this site.

This is fundamentally a site that connects people from the same Alma matter and also has students currently studying in those colleges. These current students should be the target audience as sites looking for a job or internship opportunity is of prime importance to them.

The list of featured institutes on the website can be found on its homepage which boasts of over 2000 alumni communities.

 

2. LinkedIn Recruiter:
What Google is to information search, LinkedIn is to job search. You can join a myriad of groups made exclusively for job searches and categorized according to region, industry, and so on.

Joining any of these groups will allow you to post for free. Additionally, to avail the opportunities of the large pool of candidates available on LinkedIn you can post jobs through LinkedIn Recruiter. To use this feature simply go to “Manage job posting” in the “accounts and settings” of your LinkedIn profile.

This feature uses LinkedIn’s expertise to give you a targeted audience. For example, you can specifically make your intern posting available for candidates who have an MBA degree or choose any such qualification in your candidates. You will have to pay only when the targeted audience ‘clicks’ on the ad to see the intern posting. The default price is Rs 42 per click but can be changed.
Also, the total budget can be specified so that the exercise does not hurt your pockets.

Free Websites To Hire Interns:

These websites have one aim i.e. to connect internship givers and internship seekers.

1. InternTheory:

This website is a favorite for internship seekers because of its definitive follow-up. While posting an internship, it asks for a variety of information regarding the type of stipend which will be provided (variable, fixed, etc.)

the company’s vision, start date, and end date, the type of candidate required, and the number of openings available. Overall, it pays a good amount of attention to both the employer’s and the employee’s needs.
And the best part? Posting for an internship is free.

2. Internshala:

This website is probably the most famous among internship seekers. It also boasts of a great pedigree of recruiters with names like PepsiCo, HSBC, Phillips, and Uber regularly filling up their Internship quotas through the site.

A search on Google or social media sites like quora.com with the keyword ‘internships’ almost always returns Internshala as one of the top results. This website too allows companies to post internships without any fee or charges.

3. Twenty19:

The website’s offerings of online courses along with internship opportunities help it attract students in large numbers who are generally always on the lookout for one of them either. Moreover, they let you post internships for free.

Reliance Industries Limited, Aditya Birla Group, and HSBC are some high-profile companies that hire interns using this website.

 

4. Letsintern:

Another wonderful website to hire interns without having to shell out a single buck. There is a catch though. It only lets you post 3 internships for free. But with the website boasting about 40,00,000 students from 1,50,000 colleges, one shouldn’t be complaining too much.

 

5. Hellointern:

The website’s homepage has 3 distinctive categories to immediately catch the internship seeker’s eye namely featured internships, latest internships, and trending events. Although registering as a company is free, you will have to pay to appear in its ‘featured internships’ list.
A company email id is compulsory to register on the site as it does not accept public email ids like Gmail and Yahoo!

 

6. 10internship:

Although not very pleasing to the eye, the website does its job quite efficiently. It shows internship offerings categorized according to place and role on its homepage itself making it easier for students to choose what they exactly want. Like most of the other websites, this allows you to post jobs or internships for free.

 

7. Shine.com:

Shine.com is a prominent platform empowering both interns and recruiters to discover the perfect match. Its intuitive interface and vast reach offer seamless access to diverse internship opportunities.

Shine.com stands out with its trusted brand, invaluable resources, and dedication to facilitating transformative internship experiences. By providing expert guidance, resume tips, and interview insights, Shine.com helps interns and recruiters thrive in the competitive landscape.

Sites For Hiring Interns Globally:

8. Internships:

This is Chegg’s internship offering arm. Chegg is quite popular among students both in India and globally for the online tutoring services that it provides.
Chegg has used all its experience in dealing with students to create this delightful website. And like Chegg, Internships.com offers a wide variety of services and articles to make hiring your dream intern easier and more fruitful. All of this is provided free of charge.

 

9. TimesJobs:

Times Jobs is a popular platform in India and globally, offering comprehensive job search and recruitment solutions. It provides a delightful website with free services and informative articles to simplify and enhance the process of hiring interns.
With a user-friendly interface, Times Jobs allows students and employers to explore diverse internship opportunities and access valuable resources such as resume tips, interview guidance, and industry insights.
Trusted and widely recognized, Times Jobs connects students and recruiters, fostering meaningful internship experiences for personal and professional growth.

Also, the best time to hire them is May-July or October- December when the vacations are about to or have begun. Avoiding the March-April exam time may cut down on some unnecessary recruitment headaches.

Please feel free to share your experience with hiring interns in the comments section below.

10. Naukri.com:

Naukri.com is a renowned global platform revolutionizing the way internships are found and filled. With its user-friendly website and extensive network, it simplifies the process of hiring interns, providing a wide array of opportunities across industries.
Naukri.com is trusted for its exceptional reputation, unmatched resources, and commitment to nurturing meaningful internship experiences for personal and professional growth.

Conclusion

Hiring interns for your small business will help you tremendously, the new ideas and suggestions the young population will bring to your organization will benefit you in the long run.
One more thing which will help your small business is investing in a good accounting software like profitBooks. With its easy-to-use interface and its invoicing and inventory management capacity, all your accounting worries will be taken care of in one software.
visit the ProfitBooks website and sign in to your business today.

 

FAQs

What are the benefits of hiring interns for startups in 2023?

Hiring interns for startups in 2023 offers several benefits. Interns bring fresh perspectives, enthusiasm, and a willingness to learn, which can inject new energy into the startup environment. They can contribute to various projects, assist with day-to-day tasks, and provide valuable support to the existing team. Additionally, interns can be a cost-effective resource for startups, as they often require less compensation compared to experienced professionals.

How can startups effectively onboard and mentor interns?

To effectively onboard and mentor interns, startups should establish a structured onboarding process. This involves introducing interns to the company culture, providing clear expectations, and assigning a dedicated mentor who can guide and support them throughout their internship. Regular check-ins, goal setting, and constructive feedback are vital for ensuring a positive and productive internship experience.

 

What qualities should startups look for in potential interns?

When hiring interns for startups, it’s important to look for qualities such as adaptability, willingness to learn, strong work ethic, and a passion for the startup’s industry or mission. Startups often seek interns who are proactive, resourceful, and capable of working in a dynamic and fast-paced environment. Good communication skills, collaboration abilities, and a positive attitude are highly valued.

 

How can startups provide meaningful learning experiences for interns?

Startups can provide meaningful learning experiences for interns by involving them in real-world projects and exposing them to different aspects of the business. This hands-on approach allows interns to develop practical skills and gain relevant industry knowledge. Startups can also organize workshops, training sessions, and networking opportunities to broaden interns’ understanding of the startup ecosystem and foster their professional growth.

 

What are some potential long-term benefits of hiring interns for startups?

Hiring interns for startups can yield long-term benefits. It allows startups to identify and nurture talent early on, potentially leading to the recruitment of exceptional candidates for full-time positions in the future. Interns who have a positive experience may become brand ambassadors, referring other talented individuals to the startup. Furthermore, interns can bring fresh ideas and diverse perspectives that contribute to innovation and growth within the startup.

 

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