Planning Your Internship

Successful internships are planned well. Putting some time in now will save you time in the long run and ensure you and your intern have a positive experience. Work your way through the questions below to start getting your plan in place.

 The project

  • What do you want the project outcomes to be? 
  • When do you want these outcomes achieved by? 
  • How will you measure the success of the project? 
  • How do these outcomes fit with wider business objectives? 
  • What obstacles need to be overcome? 

What does the project need?

For students, the internship is an opportunity to use their existing skills and develop new ones. Seek potential when you are recruiting as skills are still being developed.  

  • What skills are needed to achieve the project outcomes? 
  • What skills do you need the intern to have to complete the project? 
  • Which of these skills are essential and which are desirable? 
  • What skills can you train the intern in? 
  • What skills will the intern gain? 
  • What other resources will you need to provide to achieve the project outcomes? 
  • What equipment will the intern need? 

Tips to manage and support your intern 

  • Plan time throughout the internship to meet with your intern. They will need more time at the beginning to learn the working culture and ways of working in your organisation.  
  • Give the intern a buddy/mentor in addition to a line manager to help with questions and settling in. 
  • Interns can learn a huge amount from just being in the work environment and observing their colleagues. If the intern is working a combination of in-person and remote working, or fully remote. ensure that they have what they need to be successful working remotely – our guide to supporting an intern remotely can be found here: 

Managing an intern remotely

  • Be clear with their workload from the beginning and ensure they are aware of the boundaries of their project and your expectations regarding how far they can take their initiative.  
  • Most interns are incredibly efficient. Make sure they have some other projects to keep them going if they are powering through or have a delay.  
  • Provide positive and constructive feedback to support their development.  
  • Some interns may not have been in the work environment before. Letting them know basics such as what to wear, punctuality, meeting etiquette and whether they can heat up their lunch are all helpful to cover. Ensuring the intern feels confident to ask questions can help to overcome first-day nerves and early challenges.  

With clear direction, support, encouragement and sufficient challenge your intern can make a huge contribution.  Get in touch with the Careers Team for more support around planning an internship.  

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