Interns are a concept usually associated with really big companies, typically college students attached to someone senior, normally they’re without much responsibility.

Of all the internship applications that go out, most get rejected. There are dozens of good candidates vying for very few spots. That doesn’t mean that those that are rejected aren’t good. Most of the candidates that are proactive enough to apply for an internship are reasonably smart go-getters.

Now consider your average start-up; pretty tight on funds, short on hands, and are guaranteed to provide everyone from the founders through to the briefest of interns a lot of experience. A few additional, low cost employees might be helpful! Better yet, the internship is a great way for you to gauge if they’d be a good for you to recruit them full time.

What are these Interns going to do?

We’ve currently got six (yes six) interns doing an un-godly volume of market research, data entry and analysis for us. It takes a little extra time for them to do everything, but they’re doing work that would otherwise be slowing our key people down. It’s a great relationship, they’re learning lots about every aspect of work – and we’re getting more homework cranked out every week than we could have in a month.

How much is this going to cost?

Did I mention that intern programme’s don’t (normally) have any direct cost to your company? Except for working space, guidance and a computer to work from (they’re mostly happy to bring their own laptops), it won’t cost you anything.

We’ve registered with four nearby universities, they send us prospective interns at every long university break. Some universities have options for providing ongoing interns (after hours, weekends, etc.). If you’re looking to get some market research, or other non-specialist work done, it might be worth your while to give your local university a call.