Developing and Maintaining Relationships for your Internship Program

Developing and Maintaining Relationships for your Internship Program

I had no idea what to expect when I dove head first into managing the CGXperience three years ago. Looking back today, I see a vast network of individuals who created sustaining relationships with each other and our agency. Without those relationships, our internship program wouldn’t be what it is today.

Relationships are a vital part of a successful internship program. Good relationships, where everyone benefits, can help your program and interns excel. The Communications Group (ComGroup) has established and maintains relationships with professors and interns to the benefit of our internship program.

Here are five tips for creating lasting relationships with these audiences:

Reach Out and Connect

College and university professors want to see their students find success after graduation. Graduates with an internship on their résumé are more likely to find a job. Therefore, professors welcome employers who reach out to them about potential internships. ComGroup’s interns have learned about our internship primarily from their professors. This relationship is invaluable.

Reach out to professors who teach students studying disciplines within your field. ComGroup emails professors teaching public relations, marketing, and similar majors. Here are three tips to make your first email impactful:

1. 1. Give professors the full details of your internship, including the work their students will do and whether or not the internship is paid
   2. Make it easy for professors to share the opportunity with their students by providing links to your website and application
   3. Follow up with those professors multiple times during the application period
   4. Send a follow-up email to those professors that do send candidates your way. A positive email about one of their students is always appreciated

Not sure where to start? Contact college professors with whom you already have an established connection. Then, reach out to colleges and universities close to you geographically.

Treat Interns Well

Former interns are your program’s best ambassadors. If they enjoy your program, they will tell their friends and professors. Their peers are then more likely to apply. Their professors will know they can trust your program and will recommend it to their best students.

The best way to create sustaining relationships with your interns is to let them know they’re valued members of your team. Ask for their opinions. Give them work that aligns with their interests and challenges them. Provide mentorship and constructive feedback. These intentional acts built on top of each other will foster a sense of trust between your interns and your organization.

Grow Your Online Professional Community

LinkedIn continues to be a platform on which aspiring professionals make connections with each other and career professionals. You can make use of this in two ways:

1. 1. Make your personal LinkedIn page easy to find so current, former, and potential intern candidates can connect with you
   2. Create a LinkedIn page for your internship program. Doing so puts your program in front of potential interns you know are intentionally looking to learn and grow professionally

Find Opportunities for In-Person Interactions

Face-to-face interactions can make virtual connections stronger. There are opportunities all around you to solidify these relationships. Colleges and universities host career fairs throughout the year. These events provide chances to introduce your organization to prospective interns and professors. You can also create an event of your own. ComGroup has found success with this. Each spring, we invite PR and marketing students across the state to our office for the ComGroup Classic. The attending students and professors get to network with us and each other while seeing a snapshot of agency life.

It’s also important that interns have opportunities for in-person networking with industry leaders outside your organization. Our interns are invited to attend the Arkansas PRSA chapter meetings with us once a month. During this time, they’re given the opportunity to establish relationships of their own with Arkansas PR industry leaders.

Give Back

Financial gifts are great for showing your commitment to fostering the next generation of industry leaders. Even small contributions, like the donation ComGroup made to the University of Central Arkansas Public Relations Student Society of America chapter, are beneficial. Any little bit helps when it creates opportunities for unique learning experiences.

Financial giving isn’t the only way to invest in students, though. Speaking engagements to a college student group or being available to meet with an aspiring professional are valuable. These moments offer a person that candidates can associate with your organization. They’re also able to gain insight into what a career in your industry looks like.

Good relationships can strengthen your internship program and establish a pipeline to pull candidates of quality through and build your program. That is only the first step, though. Maintaining relationships is crucial so everyone benefits.

Ready for more? Follow ComGroup on LinkedIn and check back for our next blog to learn how to identify the best candidate for your internship.