Internships are one of the best ways to prepare secondary and post-secondary students for employment. Hands on experience and mentoring are just some of the benefits to the students them selves. In addition it allows the student to determine in their intended career field is all they thought it would be or possibly discover a career they never knew existed.
For you as a business person, hosting an intern allows your company to play a hands-on role in providing the hard and soft-skills neccesary for the intern to be an efficient member of the workforce. An intern is also a cost effective, temporary employment period. Many internships are set-up to lead to full-time employment. Bring an intern into your workplace, allow them to learn from your experience, ensure that they are a proper fit for your work environment and when the internship period is over your company will have a well-educated, well-trained employee.
Large companies will often develop an in-house internship program that they market themselves to local high schools and higher education institutions. For smaller businesses, third party programs are available that will help you administer your internship opportunity. The TechQuest Internship program through the Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania or Stay Invent Central PA through the Harrisburg Regional Chamber of Commerce are two such programs. They will advertise your opportunity to the schools in your region and can even offer support with payroll and grant funding opportunities.
