Top 5 Posts & BRB

[Update 4/13/12: new posts will resume next week, April 16-20. See you then!]

Employer Relating will be on a *brief* hiatus beginning tomorrow, March 23, and will resume again during the week of April 9. It’s not a huge gap in activity, however just long enough that some of you may have started to wonder.

In the meantime, I wanted to offer you to our Top 5* posts of all time for your reading pleasure. Judging by these dates, you’d think the blog didn’t exist until December but I promise you it dates back to May 2011, when it was previously named Live from OC. Enjoy!

5 – Jumping into action (originally posted on January 6, 2012)

4 – MPACE pictures, part 2 – Everything BUT the social (originally posted on December 14, 2011)

3 – Can you email out my job description for me? (originally posted on February 16, 2012)

2 – If I tell you what I’m looking for, can you send over a student to work for me? (originally posted on February 27 2012)

1 – Building your internship Series* (I’m lumping all of these together so there is at least some variety to this list. Originally posted January-February 2012)

See you in April!

Building your Internship – Summary and Resources (Part 6 of 6)

We’ve made it, friends!  Six posts later, here we are. As promised, below is a summary of posts, along with some resources to help you down the road.

Part 1 – Laying the Foundation

• Organizational goals for hosting interns?
• Departmental goals for hosting interns?
• Intern duties and learning objectives?
• Required Intern qualifications?
• Mentors/supervisors in each department hosting interns, and their goals?

Part 2 – Structure & Compensation

• Where will the intern(s) work?
• When will the intern(s) work?
• How are we compensating the interns?

Part 3 – Recruiting your Superstar Interns

• Job description
• Where to post
• What else can be done

Part 4 – Getting Started on the Right Foot

• Prepare the Team
• Prepare the Space
• Welcome!
• Help them get connected

Part 5 – Evaluating Performance & Concluding the Internship

• Let them know measures for success
• Ask for their feedback throughout the program
• Hold an exit interview
• Stay in touch with former interns

Resources

It is my sincere hope that this collection of posts has been helpful for you and your organization. But you definitely won’t want to stop here! Below are suggested resources I’ve shared:

• US Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet #71: Internship Programs Under The Fair Labor Standards Act – self-explanatory. Every employer hosting interns needs to read it, and those who are thinking about unpaid positions need to memorize it and recite it back 50 times. Okay, maybe not 50, but at least until you get the idea!
• NACE  – the National Association of Colleges & Employers, the big daddy when it comes to guidelines, policies, and procedures. A wealth of information. Don’t miss their Postion Statement on US Internships, or their 15 Best Practices for Internship Programs.
• MPACE – the Mountain Pacific Association of Colleges & Employers, a regional arm of NACE with mostly West Coast & Rocky Mountain members. There are multiple chapters of NACE, MPACE happens to be where I belong.
• Intern Bridge – self-described as “the nation’s premier recruiting consulting and research firm.” I haven’t had as much exposure to InternBridge as the other organizations above, but the information & research I have seen from them has been helpful. They have eye-opening data on paid vs. unpaid internships and how the differences affect both employers and students.
• Your local Career Center – Many universities have someone in a position like mine, handling employer relations. You may also see someone in an “internship coordinator” role. These people are a wealth of knowledge and can often share specifics about  your region, your industry, and even the major or student population on their particular campus. Don’t be shy! 
• Small Business Trend’s “How to Make the Most of an Intern”, which has been my favorite article on this topic so far.

I’ll continue to keep you updated as I come across new resources. In the meantime, happy planning and keep in touch if I can be of further help!

-DBO

Building your Internship – Structure & Compensation (Part 2 of 6)

Now that you’ve laid the foundation for your internship program, it’s time to move forward with setting it up . Today’s post will focus on (1.) Structure and (2.) Compensation.

Disclaimer: This section will provide strategies for employers building their programs independently of a school. If you are partnering with a school or academic department, you may find that there are requirements for how you structure your program/compensate your interns.

1. Key Set-up questions to ask in your organization: 

• Where will the intern(s) work?
• When will the intern(s) work?

The very nature of an internship program means that the intern’s learning and development should be central, so I recommend that you consider scheduling your intern’s hours on-site as much as possible. Having your intern working out of your physical space exposes them to your corporate culture and the behavior/attitudes of your other employees.  You will also have a chance to get to know him or her better, which will give you a better sense of how to proceed with assigning projects, evaluating, or even hiring them full-time. 

Scheduling can be tricky, as students who are in school will be juggling classes and other academic commitments, so you may want to take that into account before creating an exact schedule. That said, keep in mind that internships can be anywhere from a few hours per week to full-time, from one academic quarter, to a full year.  Whatever you decide, remember that a consistent in-office presence, and frequent interaction with supervisors and fellow employees gives the intern the opportunity to feel connected.

2. Key Compensation question to ask in your organization: 

• How are we compensating the interns?

I’ll be sharing some additional resources later in the series, including more on this very topic. As you can tell, this is a meaty area so please consider this post to be the tip of the iceberg. We’ve also explored it on other parts of the blog already (here, for example).

Let’s look at it this way: It’s up to you and your organization to determine how you will be compensation your intern, not if. There are two avenues to consider, and anything else becomes legally questionable.

• Paid: Just what it sounds like – the intern is earning monetary compensation for their work
• For academic credit (also referred to as “unpaid”):  an academic institution or program is granting academic credit for the work the intern does related to their position in you organization.  Often, universities require additional class time and/or projects for the intern to complete to earn credit.

How do you know which one is right for you? Well, let’s take a look at one particular line from the Department of Labor’s Fair Labor Standards Act Fact sheet on unpaid internships.  This line relates to for-profit institutions, and says “The employer provides the training and derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern. Occasionally, the operations may actually be impeded.”

Yes, you read that correctly. I interpret that line to mean, if a for-profit organization has an intern performing any sort of work or labor that benefits the organization, it is not appropriate for the internship to be unpaid. So, I encourage any business hosting interns to pay them. Pay can be hourly, monthly, or even in the form of a stipend, and it’s up to your organization to determine what’s best and right for you.

For organizations, such as non-profits, that don’t have the resources to pay, know that you will have some legwork to do in order to ensure that interns are instead receiving academic credit. It is not enough to post the internship with “Credit” in the salary column. You must work with a school to ensure that your position qualifies and that they are in fact earning those academic units. Every university (and sometimes, as in the case of UCI, different programs within the university) has a different way of handling internships for credit. Yes, it could mean more work for you, but that is what it takes to make sure you don’t end up in a legal gray area…and no one wants that! 

Let’s recap…The questions pertaining to set-up that you should now be asking your organization are:

• Where will the interns be working?
• When will the interns be working?
• How are we compensation the interns?

Okay, great!  Moving along, stay tuned for Post 3…Recruiting!

Building your Internship – Laying the Foundation (Part 1 of 6)

So, you’re interested in bringing one or more interns into your organization – great idea!  Let’s talk about that…

First off, I’d like to point out two outside resources with which familiarizing yourself is imperative. NACE, or the National Association of Colleges & Employers, and their position on interships, along with the DOL Fact Sheet on Internships.  You’ll find that many guidelines relate to unpaid internships, but I recommend that you consider them universal. Your internship will be well-structured, fair, and ahead of the curve in a number of areas. You will also notice that both have a permanent spot in “Employer Resources” here on this blog, should you ever need to know where to find them. 

After you’ve reviewed the NACE website and the DOL guidelines, I suggest that everyone in your organization who has an investment in your future intern(s) discuss the following areas:

1. Organizational goals for hosting interns
2. Departmental goals for hosting interns
3. Intern duties and learning objectives
4. Required Intern qualifications

And lastly,

    5. Assign mentors/supervisors in each department hosting interns, and allow mentors/supervisors to establish goals.

You can nail down these topics in a single meeting, in a series of meetings, over email, slowly over time, or any other way that you see fit for your organization. However you decide to approach these topics, the more thorough you are at this stage, the better off you will be in the long run.

It’s also at this stage where opportunities to measure success (however your organization defines it) will become clearer. We’ll touch on that in Part 5!

Coming up next: Part 2 – Setting up Your Program

Until next time,

DBO

Introducing Employer Relating’s First Blog Series!

I love how many employers are interested in starting new internship programs! It warms my heart to think that among seasoned professionals, there is a desire to help those newer in the field. Over the past few months, it’s become especially apparent that many employers developing internships would like from some clear guidelines and resources on the topic. And so, I’m happy to announce that beginning next week, Employer Relating will be a featuring 6-part blog series called Building your Internship – Strategies for Creating the Best of Both Worlds for your Organization and your Intern

While not meant to take the place of the necessary conversations you’ll need to have with your internal HR officers and leadership, we hope it helps you build the strongest program possible for your organization.

The 6 topics will be, in order:

1.            Laying the groundwork

2.            Setting up your Program 

3.            Recruiting

4.            Hiring, on-boarding

5.            Evaluating, concluding

6.            Summary, additional resources

So refill your coffee, sit back, and stayed tuned for the first post of the series to arrive early next week!

Until then,
DBO

To Fair or not to Fair, that is the question…

A common query from employers who are new to student recruitment is “what should I do first?” There are so many options for performing outreach to our campus , that I get why there is some confusion over how (and where to begin).

Often, employers are already familiar with the idea of Career Fairs, and assume that’s where they should begin. For some, that is a great idea. For others, their budget and efforts may be better spent elsewhere. I’d like to suggest that employers considering Career Fair attendance ask themselves the following questions…

• What exactly are my hiring needs? That’s right, hiring needs. As tempting is it may be, a Career Fair is not a place to come advertise products or services (in fact, we don’t allow it). I recommend that you should be actively looking to hire for at least 2-3 openings/internships in the near future, whatever that means for your organization. The more positions, the better, and the more chances that a student can make a long-term career out of them, the better.
• Do I see value in having face-to-face interactions with potential employees?  Online/digital applications are very common these days, so it’s no surprise that many of the employers who attend career fairs have electronic apps. In fact, many have to decline paper resumes that are offered to them by students. As a result, when there is no exchange of paper, there is little happening aside from the conversation between the recruiter and the student.  Does your company value such interactions?  Which brings me to…
• Am I okay with the possibility of talking for 5+ hours? What it really comes down to is whether or not you (or your company’s representatives) can maintain a positive attitude toward each student who approaches your table after a long and tiring afternoon. I have (unfortunately) seen recruiters who wear their exhaustion on their face, and it negatively affects the interactions they have with potential employees.
• Do I see long-term benefits to having UCI students aware of our opportunities?  You’ll likely spend time talking to students who will be ready for your next wave of job opportunities, but you’ll also meet students who have another year or two of school (or more) to finish before they’re ready to take on work. Are you okay if not every conversation you have results in an immediate application?  To piggy-back on that, there will be students who notice your presence, but who don’t talk to you.  How does that sound to you?

All right, it’s no secret what the answers to these questions should be. What I’m hoping employers understand is that career fairs can be great investments for many, but not everyone. If you only need one student for a part-time opportunity that starts immediately, it’s not your best bet. But if you want to build a pipeline of future graduates and develop long-term relationships, it’s a great way to begin. For those specifically interested in UCI Career Fairs, further details are available here. And, for those joining us later this month (or after), be sure to check out last fall’s Top 5 Career Fair Tips (for recruiters).

-DBO

 

Happy 2012! Here’s what’s coming up…

Hello again from the UCI Career Center! It’s my pleasure to wish you all a Happy New Year. Though we’re still dusting off our keyboards after being away for nearly two weeks, I wanted to give you all a preview about some things to come. Our Winter Quarter highlights include:

• On-Campus Interviewing, beginning on Monday, January 23
• Internship & Career Fair, happening on Thursday, January 26 (10am-3pm)
• Career Fest, happening throughout the month of February!

On top of these in-person events, I’m excited to announce that this quarter, we’re kicking off a new online Employer Relations Newsletter, and that a new blog series on How to Build an Internship is in the works. Stay tuned!

Happy New Year,
DBO

MPACE pictures, part 3 – BTW, or Bears, Trees & Wires.

And, finally, as promised – the final round of MPACE pictures, including the social. We spent the last evening of the conference at the World Forestry Center, which had great exhibits, yummy food, tasty drinks, and Voodoo Doughnuts. No complaints here.

Indoor tree, and an indoor (pretend) owl. The tip of the iceberg of the "northwest-y" decor.

Getting back to my Pacific Northwest roots, posing with an old friend.

Wires from the Canopy Lift Ride - meant to simulate going to the top of a forest.

Did I mention that I'm afraid of heights? That's me and my courageous colleague, Michelle, braving the ride.

It went about twice that high, at a death-defying speed of (I'm guessing) 12 miles an hour. Then, we dangled at the top for eternity.

We're smiling because we survived.*

Birds-eye view of the band rocking out

Very Merry Northwest Christmas decor

Simulated rafting photo. There's me falling off the side, my colleagues saving me, and a constituent from CSULB assessing the situation. Apologies for the blur, but at least it feels like an action shot... right?

ROAR. Last shot of the night.

Bonus photo: I think I was one of the few who took the train out of Portland. I couldn't find Platform 9 3/4, so I took a picture of some windows instead.

*A references to a previous post I did where I got to use the same caption after a real-life rafting expedition, with pictures almost as intense as the one here.

The internship opportunity I’m offering is unpaid, so that means you’re given my intern credit, right? (FAQs, 5.0)

This question represents the tip of a very, very large iceberg. For the sake of our readers, I’m going to cover some basics in this post, but I can promise that this isn’t the last time we’ll discuss paid vs. unpaid interns on this blog (anyone else still following the Black Swan case?)

For the most part, I encourage employers to seriously consider paying their interns.  Internbridge has some great data available on all the reasons why paying interns usually leads to a more positive and successful experience for both the student and the employer. Some of it is really eye-opening. And remember, payment doesn’t have to be hourly – sometimes a stipend or a project-based wage can be a good fit, too.

That said, I understand that it’s not realistic for every company, non-profit, or start-up that needs/wants interns to have the budget to pay them. However, it’s imperative that the employer takes ownership over facilitating some kind compensation for the student.  It’s not enough to just declare that the student can get credit for the internship…it’s actually not up to you. If you want your intern to get credit, you must ensure that your opportunity actually will fit their university’s requirements.

Take UCI, for example. At the Career Center, we love to see students pursuing internship opportunities. Love, love, love it. Though, we are not an academic unit, and we can’t offer credit simply because you hire them.  We will, however, help you get in touch with one of our academic departments that will consider your opportunity to see if is appropriate to enroll the student in a credit-based program that coincides with their role at your organization. (Examples of UCI programs offering credit for internship opportunities are available here.)

That’s right…your opportunity has to be reviewed by an academic department to ensure that the student is doing work the meets set criteria, which varies from department to department. 

The good news is, if an academic unit feels it’s appropriate to grant credit to your interns, the university will help facilitate it. Your involvement will vary depending on the program in which your student is enrolled.  

Yes, it can take time to get in touch with the right folks and follow the right steps to give the intern credit. Though, the steps aren’t difficult, they are there to help our students (and you).  Isn’t that what internships are all about?

Stay tuned for more on this down the road.

Have a great week!

-DBO

6-month blog-aversary!

In honor of our 6-month blog-aversary next week, I’d like to re-share the top 6 posts to date (as indicated by reader hits over at the previous address).

1. Watch out! Texas, here I come!

   

   Please allow me to show you some posts

2. NACE Day 1, by the numbers

3. You want an intern? What a great idea! (FAQs, Part 1.0)

4. Lessons from the cocktail table (3.0) – Or, how I learned to love networking

5. On interns, the film industry, and birds (specifically, black swans)

6. Behind the scenes at a Career Fair (one of my personal favorites)

In other news, our first few days at this new URL have gone swimmingly, which is such a relief, and something for which I’m very grateful. As you may have guessed, there was a lot of work involved with getting the update off the ground.  The timing of this change was intentional, as these next few weeks are shaping up to be quite busy (MPACE conference in Portland, multiple employer meetings and community events, Career Center Fall retreat, etc). I’ll have some good stories and updates coming your way, and I look forward to using this new platform to share them.

In the meantime, please enjoy the highlights and have a wonderful weekend!

-DBO