Internships (persuasive)

1. Starting and Maintaining A Quality Internship Program. By Michael True

http://www.dphu.org/uploads/attachements/books/books_652_0.pdf

Internships can be beneficial to the company and intern if done right. The strongest argument that internships are beneficial is offered by Michael True in his article, “Stating and Maintaining a Quality Internship Program.” True suggests that internships can be beneficial, but only if they adhere to certain practices and standards. True offers a blueprint of what companies should consider when creating a quality internship. In his article he covers; steps to beginning an internship program, ten concerns of an intern, legal issues, orienting and training interns, developing work activities and measurable learning objectives and finally supervising the intern. True’s advice on creating a successful internship is helpful but limited.

According to True, internships would be successful if they meticulously plan out their internship and write out some goals the internship should meet and choose a valid mentor. It would help if the employer “Draft a job description that clearly explains the job’s duties. Do you want someone for a specific project? General support around the workplace? To give the intern a taste of everything your company does? Structure the internship ahead of time so that you can be sure to meet your goals and not find yourself floundering partway through”(True 3). Walking into the workspace, the future intern should be aware of the work they are about to apply to. “A very important part of your plan should be the assignment of a mentor or supervisor — that is, someone from the intern’s department who will be in charge of the intern. This person doesn’t have to be a teacher per se, but should be selected because he or she likes to teach or train and has the resources to do it”(True 4). Choosing the proper mentor can set the entire internship since the mentor or trainer will be supervising the interns for the time they will be spending in the program. If the mentor fails to supervise the interns, then that will affect the quality of the experience the interns are getting an the value of the internship itself.

A Successful internship would present all of the criteria and work an applicant should be aware of before starting. Then there will not be any surprises when the interns begins working. “ Be as specific as possible. Interns, like others in the process of learning, need structure so they don’t become lost, confused or bored”(True 4). This could also be because of the mentor the company chose to use for the internships. Being specific will present a strong representation of what the intern should be informed about before starting the program.

According to True, internships are less successful if they choose incorrect people as interns. Some interns could be distracting and very destructive and if the employer does not pay any attention to who he/she is allowing to participate in the internship, the destructive interns can make the workspace difficult. Many are not aware that this can happen in internship programs but it really does. This is why when the employer is reviewing the applicants he must be as careful in choosing and in turn as he is choosing an actual employee.

Whether internships help or hurt, interns really depends on the internship and the employer. As True suggests, they can be helpful but only under certain conditions. If they follow a thought out plan that they created for the interns and took some advice form “Stating and Maintaining a Quality Internship Program,” success is almost guaranteed. But what True is meaning to say is, with the help of his blueprint for the creation of an internship the company can create a bulletproof internship.