Here’s today’s tip: Free interns are awesome! Get all you can, train them well and keep them busy.
As a former free intern, I endorse this message. The fact is that everybody wants free labor…but it’s the training and deployment where most people fail.
The biggest surprise that I found once I started hiring interns was how much work it took to find things for them to do. Let’s face it, when you get an intern, even if you’ve seen their resume, you have no idea what they’re competent with. Can they take pictures, file documents, respond to emails or is refilling the toilet paper the ONLY thing you can trust them to do right?!
I recommend that at the start, or even before beginning of the campaign, you should spend significant time identifying the tasks you can easily delegate. At least scratch out a rough training framework and decide who while monitor them, as well as how. With this done, you’ll be able to train and deploy them much more quickly when you acquire them.
From there, just make sure you’re communicating with them and provide them steady direction. These folks are working for free because they want to gain experience and help you win. They’re on YOUR team. Make sure it’s worth their time and give them real opportunities to make an impact!
