How to Start an Internship Program

Hiring an intern for your agency can provide both immediate and long-term benefits—especially if you follow a few easy tips on how to start an internship program. This short overview gives you four easy steps to set you up for success:

1. Identify what an internship is and how an intern might help you.
2. Set goals for your program.
3. Structure your internship for success.
4. Prepare your team to make the most of the experience.

What is an internship?

An internship program is usually a short-term, professional learning experience that provides a student with meaningful, practical work experience. Interns are typically college students pursuing a two- or four-year degree. During an internship, a student will perform a wide range of tasks and services in support of your staff. Some typical work tasks for agency interns can include:

• Learn key elements of the financial products and/or companies your agency represents, to develop an understanding of how you help your clients.
• Shadow your customer service and sales personnel to learn how they interact with clients at every stage of the business.
• Assist agents and staff with support as needed. This can include helping to assemble materials for sales calls, data entry, filing, scheduling and answering phones.
• Conduct research on industry trends, financial services products, target audiences or sales tools that are of interest to your agency.
• Complete creative tasks such as designing graphics, drafting content for social media or blogs, or creating videos.
• If the student has the appropriate skill set, they can assist with analyzing data, financial statements or performance metrics to help your agency make informed decisions.

Set goals for your internship program

Before you start your internship program, take some time to set clear goals for what you want to achieve. This will help you create a program that meets your agency’s specific needs and requirements. Some potential goals for your internship program could include:

• Identifying and training potential future employees.
• Providing opportunities for students to gain valuable work experience.
• Increasing diversity within your agency.
• Building your agency’s reputation in the community.
• Supporting local schools or community organizations.

In many cases, your internship program can accomplish all these goals at once, especially if you plan ahead.

For example, consider announcing your internship program to local schools or promoting it via local media. This way, you can build awareness and positive recognition for your agency even before your intern begins working with you. Then, your intern can create blogs or social media detailing their experiences. They can post these messages on several social media sites—for their school, the local chamber of commerce, your own agency, the companies you represent, and even local community organizations. Finally, your intern could complete a final “capstone” project they can use to further their educational goals…and you can use to help inform your business decisions.

Structure your internship for success

As you plan your internship program, consider these key points.

• Length: Typically, internships last between six weeks and six months. Will yours be a set period of months, or over a particular period of time, such as summer break?
• Weekly hours: Will your intern work full-time or part-time? Some students will apply for internships during school sessions, so make sure your preferred times are feasible for the students who apply.
• Compensation: Will you pay your student or offer college credit? You may wish to research with your local colleges and universities to determine what is standard practice in your area, and what your options are.
• Roles and responsibilities: Together with your staff, identify what your intern will do during their internship—both specific projects and day-to-day tasks.
• Training and mentoring: Identify who will be responsible for training and mentoring your intern (and make sure your staff is on board! See below for more ideas).
• Identify a final project: Consider establishing a final project to showcase the skills and knowledge the intern has gained during their time with your agency. This can be a research paper, a presentation, or a project that demonstrates their skills in a practical way. This final project should be challenging but achievable…and of clear use for you and your team.

Involve your staff in the internship process

To ensure the success of your internship program, it’s best to get early, enthusiastic support from your internal staff and sales associates. This internship should benefit them as well as provide a learning experience for the student. Some ideas to ensure that your intern receives active support include:

• Ask your staff about what work they feel an intern could do effectively that would not take excessive training.
• Ask your staff to create an “intern wish list” of creative projects that an intern could take on—such as social media outreach, interviewing happy clients for testimonials, focused research on a new target market, etc.
• Ask your staff to nominate or recommend a mentor or intern manager. This person will help supervise the intern, coordinate training and provide regular feedback to the intern during their tenure. Regular feedback will help ensure the intern gets the most out of this experience and make it a better experience for your staff as well.
• Set a goal for a particular achievement that could result from this internship. That achievement could be an item you could share on social media or could simply be a benefit to your agency. Bonus points for establishing a reward for the successful achievement of the goal.

Ultimately, starting an internship program for your agency can be rewarding for you, for your team and for the student you hire. You’ll raise the profile of your agency in the community. You’ll provide practical skills for a student looking to prepare themselves for their work future. And, perhaps most importantly, you’ll support your staff with useful assistance and a new perspective from an engaged student.

To learn more about how to start an internship program, you can download Internships: Investing Intelligently in New Talent or contact our practice management team for additional help.