The Internship Program Most Companies Run Is Already Obsolete

I ran an internship program from another state with no direct authority over any of the teams I was serving, and by the end of it attendance had exceeded our registered capacity with a waitlist of interns who wanted to come back the following year.

Here is how that happened.

When I inherited the program we were deep in a post-pandemic hangover where nobody wanted to be on site, and I was in Arizona trying to run a program for interns in Redmond. The admin community became my intelligence network, because they were the ones spending real time with interns every day and knew exactly what was landing and what was not.

I discovered that Global Intern Day was an actual thing and leaned all the way in, building our signature event around it and giving the whole day a significance that went beyond our organization. I put interns on stage with senior leaders, handed them real ownership over planning and executing the event, and watched what happened when they stopped feeling like guests and started feeling like contributors.

I ended up with an intern DJ, a photographer, and a script writer simply because I refused to turn anyone away.

Here is what the industry needs to hear right now.

With the growing push toward Masters and PhD level candidates, the program experience has to evolve to match. This audience is not looking for what you can do for them. They want to know what their work will do to move your business forward, and they are coming in with the capacity to lead, not just contribute.

The smartest thing you can do is build opportunities for them to demonstrate that leadership while they are still with you. Hand them the reins to host an event or lead an initiative and I promise you the impact will exceed anything you could have designed for them.

These are future leaders. Build the program like you already know that.

What is one thing you wish your internship program had done differently for you?