Shortlisting Interns: What Should Employers Look For In Interns?
Hiring interns or young professionals can actually be more challenging than hiring experienced candidates, as most inexperienced job seekers haven't perfected the art of articulating their value- add or skills/abilities in interviews yet. So what should employers and hiring managers look for when shortlisting interns? Here are 5 things you can do to help get the best students for your internship roles.
1. Create Equity With A Set Of Standard Questions
When I am working with organizations to help hire interns, strategizing a specific criteria to assess applicants is often the most overlooked step employers forget to do. So much of interviewing and hiring is done based on “gut feelings', or, “good vibes” that it inherently has bias. If I am interviewing a student who went to the same high school as me or majored in the same academic discipline, I’m more likely to see myself reflected in that individual so therefore have a better “feeling” about moving them forward in the interview process. This could be perceived as unconscious bias or confirmation bias.
As human beings, we just feel more comfortable with people who are more like ourselves, it feels familiar, it’s safe. Developing and applying a structured approach to selecting interns makes the process more equitable, fair and holistic for all applicants.
2. Help Students Feel At Ease
For many students, applying and interviewing for an internship might very well be the first time in their life they have gone out for a paid work position. As an employer, ask yourself how you can help the student feel at ease throughout the hiring process.
As a career coach, when I do mock interviews with students I start the conversation by saying it’s ok to be nervous, I understand they don’t have everything perfected yet, that this is simply just an opportunity to connect, relate and better understand who they are and what they want from their career.
Prefacing the interview in that way helps decrease the formality and associated anxiety on the student to be “perfect” and helps the student just be who they are- which is why you want to hire them anyways!
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3. Don’t Worry About Professional Presence Just Yet
Interviews are inherently a place of judgment. From assessing the answers candidates give to employer questions to the type of socks students wear with their suit and every little nuance in-between. But I encourage employers to see beyond what the student presents and don’t worry too much about professional or executive presence just yet- they are students! They are still learning how to develop confidence, speak professionally, dress appropriately for interviews and carry themselves with a sense of pride. Instead, consider if they are teachable and coachable in these areas, as much of what they will be learning in their internship is professionalism. There is a lot of value in hiring a young person with little to no experience.
4. Stop Doing Skill-Based Tests
Tests and exams related to skills and abilities are a great way to assess proficiency in the hiring process but at the internship level, they basically just serve as a way to see who has taken what classes in college and typically favors older students who are much further down the road in their program. If the internship legitimately requires more than basic skill, sure, it’s completely valid to administer some type of skill-based test, but if most of the skills can be taught on the job, it’s better to ask questions about the student’s ability to learn vs. what they already know- because they likely don’t know that much!
5. Value Failure
I advise organizations to look for one skill above all others: the student’s ability to fail, learn from that failure, and grow. An internship is an educational opportunity to take what students are learning in the classroom and try it out in the real world. People are going to fail, and likely, fail often. If they don’t learn anything from that failure and incorporate learning going forward, then it is a wasted internship experience for both the student and the employer.
Lastly, I encourage you to take a chance on the first year student who knows nothing but is eager and willing to learn. I’ve seen so many fantastic students who have been given an internship chance in their first or second year of study in college and how big of a boost it was to their skill, confidence and professionalism. When you give young students a chance to thrive, they typically will! So go ahead and take a chance on a student who doesn't have a perfect resume or bombs the interview- you might be pleasantly surprised!
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Meet The Writer!
Hi! My name is Nadia Ibrahim-Taney and I help people design happy and fulfilling careers through authentic career coaching. My expertise includes career exploration guidance, resume writing, interview prep and LinkedIn profile optimization. My pronouns are She/ Her/ Hers and as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I focus on how diverse identities impact and influence folks holistically and professionally. Please connect with me on LinkedIn or at Nadia@beyonddiscoverycoaching.com
