What are the skill levels of the intern?
Just like every new employee, interns come into the position with varying skill and maturity levels. The easiest way to determine the skill level of your interns is to ask them, preferably during the interview process. You can determine their technical skills by asking them whether they are familiar with certain computer hardware or software, and certain routine office hardware (copier, fax machine, scanner, and desktop computer). Additionally, you can ask them if they are familiar with certain soft skills concepts (teamwork, ethics, time management, productivity, etc.). Students should have also prepared a resume for the interview, which should further describe their experience, knowledge and skill level. The Academy Director and teacher may also be helpful to the employer, by sharing their personal observations of the intern, and his/her academic productivity and behavior. Understanding the skill level early on in the internship helps the employer tailor the internship activities and learned competencies, and ultimately assists in fully developing the student. Back to top...

How do I keep the intern busy and productive?
This is a key question. The successful internship experience for both the intern and the employer is one in which the intern feels that he/she is getting a "well-rounded" experience, seeing and experiencing a number of different areas within the organization, working with a number of different people, completing a number of different types of assignments, and feeling as if he/she is making a contribution to the company. The successful internship should also benefit the employer. The intern should go through an orientation and initial training period during which he/she should learn about the company, how the department in which he/she is working connects to the entire organization, what the organization chart looks like, how the subsidiary makes money, who are the competitors, etc. The best way to "keep the intern busy and productive" is to have a game plan ahead of time, before the intern arrives. Since the intern will be there for between six to ten weeks, the supervisor should have the entire internship's projects and goals laid out, so there isn't any "down time". Each week, the intern should have a specific assignment, be working on a specific project, or with a specific team, doing different jobs, gaining different experiences and using different skills which relate to the intern's Academy curriculum. Jobs can be routine clerical work, but not longer than a week. After that, the intern should be assigned to help out in different working departments: finance, sales, marketing, catering, housekeeping, security, administration, human resources, communications, accounting, payroll, etc. Academy interns have worked with confidential client information in banks, done research using the internet for a federal agency, updated company website designs, worked with payroll, reconfigured and consolidated corporate financial statements, provided outstanding customer service for a major national hotel chain, and in general, made a substantial impact on their employer's operations. With the skills that each student brings to the internship (word processing, spreadsheet, database, customer service, accounting, financial planning, and many more) it shouldn't be too hard for him/her to fit in, no matter where he/she is placed, and begin to be productive immediately. By raising your own expectations and assignments, the intern just might surprise you. Just keep in mind that the internship is not the same as a high school summer job, so a little planning and forethought goes a long way in keeping the intern busy and productive, as well as enriching his/her education. Back to top...

What do I do if there is a problem with the intern?
The first thing to do is to talk with the intern. The intern should be told, in a constructive way, what isn't working, and how he/she can improve. Just like any other employee of the company, the intern should follow the appropriate behavior and performance protocols as outlined in the employer's employment manual. If, after the intern has been talked to, the problem persists, the school supervisor (Academy Director) should be informed and encouraged to offer some additional information which may be helpful in rectifying the problem. If, after a number of attempts have been made to fix the problem (all of which should be duly noted and recorded in the intern's folder), the intern may be asked to leave the position in accordance with the employer's hiring and firing rules and regulations. This would only be appropriate if all remedies for correcting the problem have failed. Hopefully, in the event the student is let go, he/she will learn something from the experience to avoid repeating the problem in the future. Back to top...

Should a high school student intern be treated differently than an entry-level company employee?
Yes and no. The employer must keep in mind that the student intern is likely to be 17 or 18 years of age, and may not have the same maturity level as an entry-level employee, or even a college intern. At the same time, employers who have participated in the internship program say that Academy interns are comparable to, or in some cases superior to, college interns and entry-level workers in their skill level and productivity.  Therefore, employers should set appropriately high expectations for their interns and treat them as they would any new hire as far as helping them acclimate to their work culture, understand appropriate behavior and employability protocols, and become productive members of the organization. Back to top...

What should the intern learn?
The internship competencies should be discussed with the Academy Director and then spelled out in writing for all parties (student, parent, employer, school personnel) to read and understand.  This will be a handy guide for "infusing" lessons into the regular workday. For example, if "understanding how the company makes money" is one of the competencies, and the intern is helping the strategic planning team put together their five-year plan, the student might work on the section of the plan that addresses profitability and put together certain portions of the presentation onto PowerPoint slides. To the extent possible, work assignments should require the intern to use knowledge and skills learned in the Academy classroom. The employer supervisor should discuss the curriculum with the Academy Director, have some level of knowledge of what has been covered, and then try to infuse those lessons into the workday. Back to top...

Should there be an "exit interview" with the intern prior to his/her final internship day with the organization?
One of the first post-internship activities a student can perform is to meet with his/her supervisor at the end of the internship period, just prior to the last day, to discuss the outcomes. Were the intern's goals achieved? Were the employer's goals achieved? What would should be done differently? What was the most rewarding part of the internship? What was most liked? What was least liked? What should be changed for the student who interns next year? These are just some examples of questions that can be asked, answered and memorialized in the intern's folder. This can also be the foundation for a final post-internship journal or report done by the student and presented to his/her classmates. A final Gap Analysis may also be completed by both the student intern and the employer to ascertain any measurable gaps in respective performance expectations. The Gap Analysis may be helpful in determining how to improve future year internship placements. Back to top...