4 Ways to Encourage Interns to Become Full-Time Employees

Hiring and onboarding people from outside the company is sometimes a gamble. You haven’t worked with them before so how do you know if they’ll be a good fit? Well, have you considered the untapped potential in your internship program? 

Young talent brings fresh ideas and a new perspective to your company, as well as your products and services. Hiring interns has several additional benefits, such as: 

• A larger workforce

• A global employee candidate pool

• Minimal recruitment cost

• Enhanced brand recognition

• Effective supervisory skills

Transitioning remote interns to full-time employees presents unique challenges and opportunities for organizations looking to nurture and retain top talent. The tips below will guide you through creating a seamless and supportive onboarding process that not only integrates interns into your team but also sets them up for long-term success in your company. 

The key to a successful onboarding procedure is consistent communication during and after the completion of the internship program. It keeps the candidates invested with the organization and creates a reliable talent pipeline. Having said that, you can deploy the following tactics for smooth recruitment: 

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1. Structure Your Internship Program for Preskilling

Preskilling is a learning and development (L&D) program for new candidates. Here, employees are trained for real-work job responsibilities, from planning to implementation. 

For instance, if you’re recruiting interns for marketing, make them familiar with different marketing styles, recommend Digital Marketing Books to enhance their knowledge, and teach them the use of Salesforce. 

This allows the interns to understand the working environment and culture of the organization and assists them in setting nearly accurate expectations for the full-time job. As an added benefit, it ensures that interns are ready to join the organization after the program is complete. 

Some of the things that human resources managers can do to implement the L&D program are: 

• Provide one-on-one mentorship

• Offer networking opportunities

• Give them "real" assignments (not just "getting coffee")

• Communicate frequently 

2. Allow Your Interns to Explore Multiple Career Options

Internship programs provide opportunities for candidates to discover and polish their skills. It enables them to get out of their comfort zone and look for the job responsibilities that best suit their capabilities. 

However, if you’re recruiting full-time employees for only one kind of work, they may or may not be interested in the job title. Thus, after completing internship tenure, they may not wish to continue. 

To avoid such circumstances, let your interns explore different career opportunities within your organization. For instance, if you hire a communication student, allow them to choose between content writing, client service, social media marketing, or client pitching.

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3. Make Them Feel Part of the Organization

Gone are the days when an intern's work responsibilities revolved around menial tasks like filing and data entry. Now, leading companies are associated with prime job responsibilities and utilizing their knowledge and skills. This makes the candidate feel valued and connected to the organization. 

However, assigning them adequate work isn’t enough to encourage them to be part of the company for the long term. Instead, use the following employee engagement strategies: 

• Regular check-ins with the interns and manager

• Clarify the candidate's doubts

• Ensure transparent communication

• Get feedback from the manager and candidate

• Appreciate the small achievements of the candidates

If you’re able, create a questionnaire that allows you to learn about the intern's experience with the company—whether they choose to be full-time employees or not. Doing so will allow you to learn about the organization's pain points and areas of improvement. Plus, HR managers can then make appropriate improvements. 

4. Invest in Intern Career Development

Understand that an intern’s decision to join your organization is a critical life decision. This choice will define what the future holds for them. So, it’s essential that you make their internship experience enriching and rewarding. 

Apart from polishing their existing skills, help them grow into other areas. Don’t simply delegate the work and accept results. Instead, talk to them about the company, future goals, and what they want to learn. 

Come up with a practical training session plan, allowing employees to learn something new while assisting with the ongoing task. You can further plan team sessions to break the ice and lower employees' burdens. 

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About Author:
This article is written by our marketing team at HR Cloud. HR Cloud is dedicated to providing powerful solutions for your HR teams and creating an exceptional employee experience. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, onboarding, and to save you valuable time!