<p>I'm a student interning in DC right now. There's this general culture here that finds interns really annoying as a whole but within my agency they love us. My boss and co-workers really take an effort to make us think and learn. </p>
<p>That said, I'm sure there are a few who find kids in the office kind of annoying. How do you view interns? Any tips to share so that I don't cross the line?</p>
<p>I have supervised interns in the past, and it was a bit of a burden. There is a need to find appropriate projects for the intern – not too large, not too specialized – and sometimes this is difficult. Also, supervisors and colleagues have to “break in” the intern (teaching them about how things are done at this particular workplace) just as we would with a new employee, but the time spent doing this is pretty much wasted because the intern doesn’t stay long.</p>
<p>In some instances, too, it is not possible for a intern to really complete a project at the necessary level of quality because of the intern’s inexperience. For example, at my current job, I have been warned that I will be given two projects in August after the interns who will supposedly have “completed” them leave, and I will be expected to do the work over because my supervisor does not expect that the interns can do an adequate job.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, I think having interns is a good thing. It’s a good experience for the intern, and in the long run, I think that people who have had internship experience will be better employees.</p>
<p>At our international NGO, also in Washington, we appreciate and depend on interns. Many of us were interns at some point, so we get what it is like. That said, it is sometimes difficult to find the right tasks for interns and dedicate the right amount of time. Interns should appreciate that. The success of interns is as varied as the skills and competence of other types of employees. In general, the most successful ones are very pro-active in seeking out projects no matter how basic, do the work thoroughly and cheerfully, ask questions but do so with a series of them rather than too frequently and individually, and apply good and careful writing skills.</p>
<p>I appreciate and like working with interns. I don’t expect alot of productivity but there are always things they do that add value even though they do take a chunk of time. In every company I’ve worked, we’ve always had the ability to have an intern or not have an intern. If I’m too busy to give the necessary valued time, then I would not take on an intern that summer. It’s usually pretty clear quickly which ones will actually be able to work and contribute work that won’t need to be “re-done.” I’m probably more in tune now (with college age kids) than I was a couple decades ago but I’ve always enjoyed the months spent with interns.</p>
<p>My husband has a lab doing medical research, he always takes summer students, but I know he finds it a bit of a burden to find good projects they can do within the short time they are with him.</p>
<p>Like some of the other posters state the difficulty is finding the right tasks on projects. We try to grow them and hire them after graduation when they have >1 year experience.</p>
<p>Few years back when it was hard for students to find internship/summer work, I started an internship program in my area. I assigned each intern to a mentor (a good way for young full timers to demonstrate some leadership also). They had grunt work (short term assignment) and also one long term project which they had to give a presentation to senior management at the end of summer. They had weekly “lunch and learn,” “meet and greet” sessions. </p>
<p>I viewed them as the best PR tools for the company. They have so many social network now, they could tell a lot more people of their impression of the company. They are also a good, cheap resource for future recruit. At first, most employees thought they were a burden, but turned out the interns were a breath of fresh air sometimes. They came in with new ideas and new tools, they actually taught some old timers few things.</p>
<p>Annoy things interns do:</p>
<p>1) Stop by to chat without an appointment, can’t seem to end a conversation.
2) Ask how to do everything, not able to figure anything out.
3) Name dropping - I don’t care your parent is my boss, you can’t leave at 3pm to go to your country home.
4) Not being a team player, complaining about other interns.
5) Think they are too good for some task.
6) Talking and texting constantly (not just every once in a while).
7) inappropriately dressed.</p>
<p>Some tips dos and don’ts for interns -
arrive 5 - 10 minutes early to any meeting especially if its away from the office. Interns always seem to get lost finding the right building or office or parking lot.
Learn to tackle any new software or technical problem, pull out the handbook or call the technical hotline - don’t make someone else teach you. Fix the computer printer or copy machine if it gets jammed. Don’t just leave it.
Do offer to update social media outlets like twitter, facebook etc. Nobody else really likes to do this.
If someone else asks you to do work, run it by your direct supervisor.
If you report to more than one person, send an email saying who and what you are working on and how long it will take.
Use your own network to help the company - if you have a professor or a friend who can contribute, use that connection.
Offer to proof copy, those high sat scores in writing can actually be functional.</p>
<p>I hire interns who are graduate students in engineering, with specific skills, so the expectations are a bit different.</p>
<p>But in general, I get irritated with interns who are:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Too quick to ask for help, instead of investing the effort to try to figure it out alone.</p></li>
<li><p>Picky about what type of work they want to do. Interns need to understand that they are hired to do the work that the employees don’t want to do, and will not be getting the plum assignments.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>That said, I think internships are extremely important learning experiences, and I give them a lot of weight when I make full-time hiring decisions.</p>
<p>Interns are generally a good experience. If nothing else they provide useful feedback about transitioning new workers into the organization. Our NPO takes the occasional intern from the nearby HPYSM university, and we don’t anticipate hiring them once they’ve graduated. It’s still a challenge finding the right tasks/projects for these very bright young people, most of which have no clue as to how an organization functions. “Should I forward this to Legal, or the PR Department.” Ugh.</p>
<p>As for “things to avoid if you’re an intern” the biggest issue (understandably … we were all young once) is acting as if the organization is there to serve the intern. Too many questions, too little effort resolving issues before showing up at the mentor’s door (usually unannounced). One more thing … never, ever give an intern a project involving the organization’s Policies & Procedures Manual.</p>
<p>@ belief, </p>
<p>Do you follow wpjenna on twitter? She’s writes a blog for the Washington Post, Campus Overload, and has been blogging and tweeting about #thatintern for weeks. You may or may not appreciate the humor. Take it with a grain of salt and you might get a kick out of it.</p>
<p>Cheers! :)</p>
<p>Both of my kids are/have interned in the past. My H also hired interns. H’s opinion, that they are a lot of work! He likes the interns but he has to figure out what to do with them. It takes time away from what he has to do but he knows how valuable it is for the kids.</p>
<p>S had internship/co-op’s with two different companies. Both of the places he worked for had an established co op program. He was busy, they had tasks for him, it was easy. They had interns year round with a defined work responsibilities. People in his department had interns so they were used to the type of jobs they could give him. He did some driving and delivering items between locations also.</p>
<p>D has an internship this summer. It’s been a little bit different. They want interns and I think they are thinking of hiring people but it’s a different situation. Her boss asked people in his department to find tasks for her to do. So she has to wait for people to give her work. She doesn’t want to bother people too much and ask too many questions as they are busy and wants to figure things out herself. The work is not hard and she knows how to do the stuff they ask her to do (mostly design projects). She is willing to take any task and would much rather be busy than try to find things to do.</p>