It is common for businesses of varying industries and sizes to offer internship programs. These programs can provide the intern with real-world skills in your industry, as well as give you some extra help around your workplace. 

But if you’ve never hired an intern before, or haven’t had the best luck on your own, you may be wondering what your business can do to get the most out of your internship program. 

At Berry Insurance, we’ve employed multiple interns over the years for aid around our office. These interns typically handled social media, digital marketing, or aided administrative tasks around the office. 

In this guide we’ll be explaining the benefits an internship program can provide your business, how to market your internship, recruiting tips, as well as a sample job description. 

Table of contents: 

• What is an internship program and what are the benefits of having one?
• Marketing your business to interns
• Tips for recruiting interns

What is an internship program and what are the benefits of having one?

An internship is a short-term position offered to provide entry-level experience and knowledge about a specific career or field. Typically interns will be college students looking for real-world experience, but internships can also be offered to adults looking for a career change. 

Hiring an intern can be beneficial to companies of any size or industry looking for valuable support to their current team, while potentially investing time in future promising talent. An intern can help to free up your current employees workloads, tackle company social media, as well as handling smaller tasks or administrative aid. 

Additionally, having interns allows your current staff to take on leadership roles as they mentor the intern on their day-to-day tasks and objectives. This can be especially beneficial if you’re thinking about promoting an employee to a management position in the future. 

What types of internships are there? 

Internship positions can be catered to what you currently need for your business. These positions can be a part-time or full-time position, depending on what you are currently looking to provide. 

Common types of internships include

• Summer internships: Usually 2-3 months during the summer months, perfect for students on break looking to gain experience and offer relief when your employees are on vacation. 
• Semester internships: These internships will typically be part-time during the school year while the intern attends classes, sometimes using the internship for credits. 
• Job shadowing: A shortened internship that allows the intern to work closely with an employee to learn the ropes of their field

While these are just common examples of internships, you can mold the position to what you and your team currently needs, as well as the availability of the intern themself. 

Potential drawbacks of hiring an intern

It is still important to consider the potential negatives that could come from hiring an intern, these can include: 

• Increased cost to pay an intern 
• Time spent training or mentoring them 
• Potential poor performance if the intern proves unskilled

Marketing your business to interns

Once you’ve decided whether or not having an internship program is right for your business, you’ll have to finalize the role and responsibilities before you can begin recruiting. 

At this stage you should develop what the role will be so you can properly market it to prospective applicants. 

You should consider: 

• The goals of the internship and what tasks they will be handling 
• The length of the internship and how many interns you are looking for
• The salary and perks of the internship 
• What an ideal intern would be for you 
• What staff members will be training the intern 

After narrowing down exactly what you are looking for, you will then need to craft a job description to be posted on recruitment websites. This description should cover everything listed above as well as showcase why a prospective intern would want to work at your business! 

Below we have provided parts of a sample job description that we used for one of our internship positions in the past. For this specific role we were seeking a younger college-aged professional looking for experience in digital marketing and social media. We made sure to convey what our team at Berry Insurance is like, what the job entails, and what we are looking for from them. 

Sample job description:

Welcome to the team. Team Berry Insurance that is!

At Berry Insurance, we’re real people just like our clients. We understand their needs because we share those needs. We believe our value is in consultation, personal relationships, and as community advocates. We’re not your average insurance agent.

Since 1922, our mission has been simple and clear: Build a relationship with our clients that enables our team to provide coverage options that protect you from the risks involved in your life. Not your brother’s life, not your Facebook friend Rhonda’s life—but yours. Our expertise is in delivering results when you need them.

Based in Franklin, MA, Berry Insurance is a community focused agency serving today’s modern consumers with a full range of insurance and risk management services to individuals, families, and businesses throughout New England.

Are you a passionate college student with a strong interest in digital and social media marketing? If you love people, community, social media and working with a fun group of people, this may be the position for you! Insurance experience is a bonus but not a requirement for this position, so no need to worry if you are new to insurance; we welcome you!

Berry Insurance is looking for an intern to work with our marketing team on digital/social media projects for all departments. Our marketing team creates written and video content to drive the agency brand, and we are seeking someone who can market that content to a range of audiences. The right candidate will be driven, detailed, fun loving, creative and passionate about spreading the word about Berry Insurance. We are only looking for candidates with a can-do attitude!

This intern should be prepared to work in a fast-paced environment and will have the opportunity to gain broad experience in insurance and various aspects of marketing.

Principal Duties or Responsibilities:

• • Develop a social media content calendar incorporating a mix of posts that are fun and social, as well as that drive education and value.

• • Write social media content for all blog articles, varied by network and audience.

• • Research appropriate trends and hashtags to incorporate into the overall social strategy.

• • Assist sales team with content to drive new contacts and build relationships via LinkedIn.

• • Monitor activity in local Facebook groups and create a social posting strategy to build awareness of agency.

• • Facilitate recording client success stories/savings stories – create social graphics to publish.

• • Create a system to integrate social networking into every area of the agency.

• • Increase the number of prospects and clients connecting with us via social media.

• • Assist with development of a long-term social media strategy.

• • Research social networking and other digital marketing trends, reporting these findings with suggestions on implementation to Marketing Manager.

• • Report on core metrics to agency leadership.

• • Other activities as assigned by the Marketing Manager.

Additional Training Details:

The Intern will be required to complete Impact+ courses Fundamentals of Social Media Marketing and Getting started with B2B LinkedIn Advertising at the start of the internship.

Education/Experience:

Currently pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, Public Relations, Marketing or related field, with an outstanding academic record and portfolio. Eligible candidates may be eligible to earn course credit(s) for participation in an internship.

Required Experience:

• • Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English.

• • Strong editing skills and attention to detail.

• • High aptitude for digital and viral marketing including a strong understanding of LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube.

• • Solid understanding of the internet and how to utilize the internet and social networking to market and promote in a business environment.

• • Excellent technology skills.

• • Positive, can-do attitude.

• • Ability to multi-task, prioritize, and work independently as well as in team environments, often under tight deadline situations.

• • A professional, creative and innovative thinker.

• • Experience with HubSpot and creative tools such as Canva and PicMonkey are ideal, but not required.

Details:

The Social Media Internship will be for the duration of Summer break (~15 weeks). Interns are expected to work a minimum of 15 hours/week with the option of working up to 20 hours/week during normal business hours of Monday-Friday 8am-4pm.

Tips for recruiting interns 

Now that you know the how on marketing yourself, you’ll need to know the where. 

While finding candidates for interns won’t always be easy, knowing the right places to look can help narrow down your search. 

Job boards: 

Posting your job listing to popular job boards online is the best way to get your open position out to potential employees searching for internships. Sites like Indeed, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, or ZipRecruiter (to name a few) make it easy to place your listing and get found by the right audience. 

Partner with colleges:

If you’re seeking college aged interns, the best place to search is on a college campus! Most colleges and universities will have job boards, career centers, and career fairs where you can advertise your position and meet potential hires. Reaching out to local schools or your own alma mater can be the best way to find local talent. 

Use social media:

Posting about your internship programs on your company social media pages can help to spread the word about your new opportunities. Adding personal touches to your post like photos or videos of your team and workplace can help you stand out from other internships. 

Referral programs: 

A good way to find candidates for your internship would be to set up a referral program with your current employees. Offering incentives or bonuses to your staff can encourage them to reach out to people they may know looking for an internship. Once you have an intern hired, they can also help refer friends or fellow classmates that may be suited for the role. 

Expanding your team

Adding an internship program to your business can be an exciting way to grow your business and bring on some fresh members to your team! 

Now that you know where to start, you can get your internship program off the ground and moving! If you have more questions regarding interns or how to get your program started, be sure to leave us a comment below and reach out to us to discuss it further.