Internship-in-a-Box
An
innovative step-by-step program that helps businesses and organizations
in the Greater Philadelphia Region create meaningful internship
programs and apprenticeships.
The program includes a detailed manual that tells organizations
how to design an internship program. The manual provides step-by-step
instructions for beginning an internship program, including:
- A planning guide
- Instructions for implementation
- Best practices
- Evaluation forms
- Tips for leveraging college and university relationships
- A synopsis of legal issues impacting internship programs
- An Internship Process chart allows organizations to chart
the progress of their program
Definition of an Internship
An internship
is a period of practical training, carried out by a student within
a company or organization. In some industries, cooperative education
(co-op) programs fulfill a similar mission. In other industries,
internships can be referred to as practicums, experiential learning
opportunities, independent study programs or even apprenticeship
models. Some universities refer to all of these under the term
of experiential education.
Benefits of Internships
An internship program
can provide many benefits to a company or organization. These
include:
- Increased productivity – interns can complete project
work.
- An early start on training future employees – more
than 50 percent of interns return after graduation as full-time
employees. Interns are a good way for an organization to fill
its talent pipeline.
- An inexpensive recruiting tool. The opportunity to evaluate
prospective employees while they’re working for the organization
can reduce significant costs in finding new talent.
- Up to 80 percent of students stay in the city where they
have interned.
- New technology and ideas students bring from the classroom
into an organization.
- Diversity in an organization's workforce.
- Internship programs are cost effective – interns are
typically much less expensive than comparable full-time staff.
- Interns provide an opportunity to manage for mid-level staff – they
are typically responsible for day-to-day direction of interns.
- An influx of youthful energy and fresh ideas – interns
bring a different viewpoint to an organization.
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