Make Sure Your Intern Possesses These 5 Traits If you bring on the right person, having an intern can be extremely beneficial to your company.
By Jason Lucash Edited by Dan Bova
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Bringing on interns not only gives your current employees an opportunity to share some of their wisdom but also allows people to get a real glimpse into an occupation they are interested in.
Even though there are many benefits in hiring interns, you also want to make sure you are hiring the right ones that will fit well in your company culture. Possibly, if the opportunity presents itself, you may want to hire your intern full time. If this is the case it is important to have a couple key traits that you are looking for when deciding on your interns.
Related: 5 Reasons You Need Interns to Build Your Business
1. Welcoming
When hiring an intern, you would like their personality to mesh well with the rest of your staff. By hiring and intern that is welcoming and friendly, this will ensure that they will be easier to work with and easily managed by current staff. An intern that has a good positive attitude and is friendly to those around them will definitely have an easier time thriving in your workplace.
2. Determined
Interns should always be starting their internship with determination and ambition. You want your interns to be excited to come to work and learn new skills in their desired field. Their ambition will allow them to ask more questions, pay closer attention, and soak up as much knowledge as they can.
Related: The Case for Paying Interns (Infographic)
3. Creative
No matter what industry or type of occupation they are in, creativity is always a plus. Interns that can give a new perspective to your current staff, as well as bounce ideas around during meetings allows everyone to gain more knowledge and understanding. Interns with innovative minds that can offer something to the conference table are very valuable to a company while being crucial for an intern's growth.
4. Well-rounded
You definitely want to choose interns that are well-rounded. Since they are most likely going to be shadowing a few different individuals at the company, it would be good to get an individual that can "where many hats." Not only do they offer valuable and innovative ideas at meetings, they can also sit at a computer helping you input data into the system as well.
5. Trustworthy
You should always be able to trust the interns you are hiring. Integrity is something you cannot teach, but is something that is essential to have in the workplace. When choosing an intern, always make sure you feel as though you can trust them to not make irresponsible decisions. They are going to be surrounded by crucial and sometimes confidential information and being able to trust them will allow them to grow and learn while making sure your company is safe.
Interns are going to make mistakes, as they are constantly learning like many other full-time employees. The key is to try to weed out the individuals that can cause major damage to your company by looking for these few traits listed above.
Related: Think You Should Hire an Intern? Think Again.
