Hiring a summer intern can be a great decision for a growing business in need of a little extra seasonal help. Maybe you aren’t ready to commit to hiring a full-time staff member, but want to test the waters of having someone assist with the workload. Or maybe, you have an extra project that can be completed in a month or two. An intern can definitely fill the void and bring fresh ideas to the table.
Interns today are mainly looking for one thing, experience. Students are now programmed to believe that the odds of finding a job upon graduation are higher with an internship under their belt, and it’s true. An internship is an awesome resume builder and shows a great deal of ambition and drive to not only go to school full-time but experience work in an office setting.
We have an intern this summer, Travis Crawford, from Northwestern Michigan College’s Computer Information Technologies program. He is assisting our Systems Administrator, Ken Schweigert, this summer and it couldn’t be going better! Travis' main responsibilities have been migrating websites to our new servers and learning the ins and outs of Byte Productions.
Once the team decided we needed a little extra help, we spread the word to NMC’s IT department. Travis was informed about the opportunity and lucky for us, he was familiar with our company and values and decided it would be a great gig, Travis describes it, as “Not a bad way to spend a summer”.
“So far, it’s been a great experience. Everyone in the office is great to work with, the environment is great. I genuinely look forward to coming in every morning”, beams Travis.
We feel pretty lucky to have Travis on our team too. Not only is he smart and dedicated, he fits right in. He even enjoys comic books, Star Wars and home brews (which are probably the basis of 50% of all non-work related conversations in the office).
If your company is thinking about hiring an intern in the future, just keep these questions in mind to make sure you're ready for the commitment.
- Who will manage this person?
- What will be the daily tasks?
- Is there enough work to keep them busy?
- What will their work schedule be?
- Will this internship be paid or unpaid?
Think of having an intern as a mutually beneficial experience, you want both parties to get the most out of it. Needless to say, having Travis here has been great and we can’t wait to watch his skills and career grow!
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