Here's a link to a great article from the Wall Street Journal's Start-Up Journal on student interns. We may think of interns in terms of big companies, possibly like the contestants on The Apprentice. But in real life, they're students, normally juniors and seniors, who want to add some practical experience to their resumes before they graduate. Often, students are required to spend a semester in an internship position and they receive academic credit based on the hours worked.
As the article points out, more students than you might think have an interest in working with independent business.
So, what's in it for you? A student intern is highly motivated. Not only do they want to build their portfolios for their post-graduation job search, but if they're in a for-credit program through their school, they're being graded on their performance. They're normally willing to work for lower pay than a typical employee because the internship is part of their education. You get a motivated employee, someone just a few credit hours short of having a degree, for the cost of a part-timer.
As the article points out, there are other benefits as well, including developing a relationship with a local university, the pleasure of helping a young person work toward their future success, and a fertile source of future full-time employees. The intern is eager to learn, but they're also have a wealth of freshly-learned knowledge that can help you improve your business as long as you're willing to learn as well as teach. It can be a real win-win situation.
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