http___www.selfmadebusinessman.com_2015_02_25_case-study-what-happened-when-i-hired-two-interns__replytocom_73969_lang_ga_1.xml
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A few months ago I had the “;brilliant”; idea of hiring an intern for my blogger outreach software business, Ninja Outreach. At the time I wasn’;t exactly sure what would come of it, but to my surprise I ended up taking on not one, but two interns over a 6 month period. Although I don’;t have a lot of experience in this domain, this is likely new territory for a lot of readers, so I deemed it worth writing about, despite my relatively limited experience. This should in no way be viewed as a comprehensive article on hiring interns. Without a doubt there are rules and regulations based on your country/state you should consider if you are going to formally take on interns. This is mostly a summary of my experience, with some opinions mixed in. What Makes An Intern Different From A Virtual Assistant? The first place to begin is –; what is an intern, and how is it different from a virtual assistant? Honestly, I don’;t believe there are any hard rules here –; most of what I can think of is generalizations. In my opinion it’;s the following: - Interns can work for free, virtual assistants never do (at least not any that I’;ve ever met). However there are some clear guidelines with unpaid internships that need to be considered. - Although interns and virtual assistants can be from anywhere, I believe in the context of online business, interns tend to be either from first world countries or at least developing countries with first world education. Virtual assistants (again, this is based on my usage and everyone else who I know), tend to not be. - An intern can be present in an office. A virtual assistant, by definition, is virtual. - Interns tend to be university students. Virtual assistants can be of all ages. - An intern participates in an internship, which outside of work requirements should provide some sort of experience. This experience is not typically provided to virtual assistants. - Interns may be invited to become full time employees. This is rarely the case for virtual assistants, who tend to remain as contractors even if they are working full time hours. - Virtual assistants are found through marketplaces like oDesk, interns can be found in a variety of places, but I wouldn’;t call them marketplaces. You may disagree with some of the above, and I don’;t think you’;d be wrong. Regardless, I have worked online for several years now and know quite a few online entrepreneurs, and while virtual assistants are quite common place, I very rarely see interns/internship programs –; so clearly there is some notable difference beyond semantics. What Are The Pros and Cons Of Hiring An Intern? If virtual assistants are so easy to find and manage –; why bother with an intern? Here’;s a few pros I was considering: - “;Free”; Labor –; Interns are the only group of people who I can think of that will work for free. I know you shouldn’;t go into something purely with the mentality of getting US college educated talent at below market prices, but there is some truth to it. Without a doubt that is a large reason why internships are so common in the workplace. Of course there are big costs in time that come with hiring an intern (more about that later). Additionally, there are rules that need to be abided by if you are hiring free interns. - Transition To Full Time –; If you ever get to a point where you want to take on additional employees, your interns are a fantastic place to start. They should have intimate knowledge of the business, and you should have intimate knowledge of them and whether or not they would be good fit for the culture/role. - Be a mentor –; Having an intern is an opportunity to provide a valuable, hands on experience to the intern (often a university student). But there are many cons as well…; - Lack of skills –; Many interns have close to 0 practical skills, so they will have to be taught. - Time Investment –; As a result of their lack of skills, a lot of resources may need to be put into training. Outside of job related activity, there may also be mentoring and things of that sort. - Fit –; It is a lot more difficult to find an intern to fill a particular role, as compared to going on a marketplace, searching up someone’;s skill and reviews, and hiring them. If you have a slot to fill, hiring an intern would be a very round about way to go about it. The simplest way I can put it, is I believe interns are an investment in the future, whereas hiring a virtual assistant is about filling a need right now. Where Can I Hire An Intern? Alright, you’;re down with all of the above, so now what? Where do you go? Here’;s a handful of ideas: - Internships.com and LookSharp –; These are the closest things to marketplace equivalents for interns. You can sign up for free as an employee, create a listing, and interns might apply. This is the route I went, and I will share my results below. Here is one of my listings. - Craigslist –; When has Craigslist not been a viable option for something? It has a jobs board for each major metropolitan, on whicch you can post. - Inbound –; If you are actively hiring, put a link up on your home page in the navigation menu. Here is an awesome listing from Empire Flippers. - University Career Centers –; Most interns are university students, so just go directly to the source. Contact the career offices of a university near you, and see if you qualify. Case Study –; Hiring Interns At Ninja Outreach I’;ve worked with virtual assistants for years, but this time I had something different in mind; I wanted to bring on someone who I thought could eventually become a full time employee if things went well. Hiring for startups is very delicate, as the company is small, one wrong hire can really upset the culture balance and cost the business a lot of time and money. As a result, interns are a great option to test the waters over an extended period of time, for a low upfront cost. On the flip side, I felt we have a lot to offer, being a completely virtual tech startup. That’;s a rare internship opportunity for most college kids, and I was going to supplement that by providing real mentoring. And yes –; I was somewhat lured by the idea of free labor. So I went over to LookSharp and submitted a listing. I didn’;t put a heck of a lot of work into it to be honest. I just wrote that it was a no busy work internship at a tech startup. An example of excellent listings (and people you should turn to for advice) include: - Empire Flipper Marketing Apprentice - No Hat Digital - I couldn’;t find the listing, but I believe Tropical MBA has one too Over the course of two months I received 8 applications. And as one would expect –; most were uninspired, similar to the ones I probably submitted in college; lacking in personalization and showing a clear mass submission approach. There were even spelling and grammar mistakes (mind you these are American university kids). But I did find two that I wanted to take a chance on. I will call them J and T. J was a very nice girl from Princeton. Although her background was in biological sciences, she seemed to want to transition to something more business oriented. She was already working with one startup, but wasn’;t getting the real behind the scenes experience she was hoping for. I met with her, explained the terms, and we agreed to give it a go. My approach during this time was to simply provide opportunities. For example, I offered to let her: - Accompany me to customer meetings (via skype) - Attend all business meetings with the partners - Meet with me once a week, during which I would explain the background of the company and speak in general about startups and SaaS. In short, there would be no busy work, mostly strategy. Unfortunately, after meeting with J 1-2 more times, she just disappeared. Never heard why, and she never got the chance to attend any meetings. At this point I had pretty much thrown in the towel until T came along. T seemed like a go-getter. He contacted me directly on Skype and set up a time to meet. He had real business experience, having taken time off college to run a business. He was somewhat familiar with digital marketing, and interested in learning more. He was going to school full time, but his classes were arranged as such that he felt he had a lot of free time. T made it a lot farther than J. We sat together and came up with a plan of action. He installed the software, imported contacts, and was ready to do some lead generation. He even joined the G+ group. But again, after a few weeks, he disappeared and I never really heard from him. Conclusion –; Why I’;m No Longer Trying To Hire Interns (But Some Advice If You Are) I was fairly on the fence about it to begin with, but after the two disappearances, I lost my appetite for pursuing this further at the moment. I definitely believe hiring an intern can be a powerful boost to a startup, but it is also a costly upfront investment. I probably put in about 5 hours throughout the whole process; meeting with these interns and preparing a mentorship program for them. That’;s not an awful lot, but it also isn’;t something I want to turn into 50 with no results, and I suppose should not be a focus right now. It may just be the case that the role we are offering is just not a good fit for interns, and in general is just too unstructured. That said, I did learn some valuable lessons right off the bat. Additionally, I have done a fair bit of research, and collected some advice I would like to impart: - Don’;t have expectations about your guy/gal wanting to be an entrepreneur. - Look for reasons to reject, not accept. - Be fluid in their job responsibilities/tasks. - Take care of their room/board and day to day chores, if possible. - Offer the potential for the intern to get full time work after they graduate if they do exceptionally well. What about you –; have you ever hired an intern?
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A few months ago I had the “;brilliant”; smaoineamh fhostú intéirneach do mo ghnó bogearraí for-rochtana Craoladh, Ninja For-rochtana. At the time I wasn’;t exactly sure what would come of it, but to my surprise I ended up taking on not one, ach dhá intéirnigh thar 6 tréimhse dhá mhí. Although I don’;t have a lot of experience in this domain, is chríoch nua seo is dócha a lán de na léitheoirí, mar sin measfar mé fiú a scríobh faoi, in ainneoin mo thaithí teoranta. Ba chóir go mbeadh sé seo ar aon bhealach a fheiceáil mar airteagal cuimsitheach ar intéirnigh fhostú. Gan amhras tá rialacha agus na rialacháin atá bunaithe ar do thír / stát ba cheart duit smaoineamh má tá tú ag dul a ghlacadh go foirmiúil ar intéirnigh. Tá sé seo den chuid is mó achoimre de mo thaithí, le roinnt tuairimí measctha i. Cad a dhéanann An Intern éagsúla Ó A Cúntóir Fíorúil? The first place to begin is –; cad é intéirneach, agus an chaoi a bhfuil sé difriúil ó chúntóir fíorúil? Go hionraic, I don’;t believe there are any hard rules here –; most of what I can think of is generalizations. In my opinion it’;s the following: - Is féidir le intéirnigh obair saor in aisce, virtual assistants never do (at least not any that I’;ve ever met). Ach tá roinnt clear guidelines with unpaid internships that need to be considered. - Although interns and virtual assistants can be from anywhere, Creidim i gcomhthéacs gnó ar líne, claonadh intéirnigh a bheith ó thíortha ar fud an domhain an chéad nó tíortha, ar a laghad i mbéal forbartha le hoideachas chéad domhan. Cúntóirí Virtual (arís, tá sé seo bunaithe ar mo úsáid agus gach duine eile a bhfuil a fhios agam), claonadh a bhíonn le bheith. - Is féidir le intéirneach a bheith i láthair in oifig. A virtual assistant, de réir sainmhínithe, Is fíorúil. - Claonadh intéirnigh a bheith mhic léinn ollscoile. Is féidir le cúntóirí Virtual bheith de gach aois. - Intéirneach páirt i intéirneacht, ba chóir a lasmuigh de riachtanais oibre a chur ar fáil de chineál éigin taithí. Níl an taithí ar fáil de ghnáth do chúntóirí fíorúil. - Féadfar a iarraidh ar intéirnigh a bheith fostaithe go lánaimseartha. Tá sé seo annamh an cás do chúntóirí fíorúil, a bhfuil an claonadh a bheith mar chonraitheoirí fiú má tá siad ag obair go uaireanta lánaimseartha. - Cúntóirí Virtual fáil trí margaidh ar nós oDesk, Is féidir intéirnigh a fháil i réimse na n-áiteanna, but I wouldn’;t call them marketplaces. Is féidir leat a easaontaíonn le roinnt de na thuas, and I don’;t think you’;d be wrong. Beag beann, D'oibrigh mé ar líne ar feadh roinnt blianta anois agus tá a fhios fiontraithe go leor cúpla líne, agus cé go bhfuil cúntóirí fíorúil áit coitianta go leor, I very rarely see interns/internship programs –; agus mar sin go soiléir go bhfuil roinnt difríocht suntasach thar semantics. Cad iad na son agus CONS As Fhostú An Intern? If virtual assistants are so easy to find and manage –; why bother with an intern? Here’;s a few pros I was considering: - “;Free”; Labor –; Tá intéirnigh an grúpa amháin de na daoine a féidir liom smaoineamh ar a bheidh ag obair saor in aisce. I know you shouldn’;t go into something purely with the mentality of getting US college educated talent at below market prices, ach tá roinnt fírinne dó. Gan amhras go bhfuil cúis mór cén fáth a bhfuil intéirneachtaí chomh coitianta san ionad oibre. Ar ndóigh, tá Costais mór i am a thagann leis fhostú intéirneach (níos mó faoi sin níos déanaí). Ina theannta sin, tá rialacha nach mór a Cloítear má tá tú ag earcú intéirnigh saor. - Idirbhliain Go Lánaimseartha –; Má tá tú riamh go pointe áit ar mhaith leat a chur ar fostaithe breise, tá do intéirnigh áit iontach chun tús a chur. Ba chóir go mbeadh eolas pearsanta ar an ngnó, agus ba chóir duit go mbeadh eolas pearsanta acu agus an bhfuil nó nach mbeadh siad oiriúnach go maith do na cultúr / ról. - A bheith ina meantóir –; Having an intern is an opportunity to provide a valuable, lámha ar an taithí ar an intéirneach (Is minic mac léinn ollscoile). But there are many cons as well…; - Easpa scileanna –; Tá go leor intéirnigh gar do 0 scileanna praiticiúla, mar sin beidh siad a mhúineadh. - Infheistíocht Am –; Mar thoradh ar a n-easpa scileanna, a lot of resources may need to be put into training. Lasmuigh de ghníomhaíocht bainteach leis an bpost, d'fhéadfadh go mbeadh meantóireacht agus rudaí den saghas freisin. - Fit –; Go bhfuil sé ar a lán níos deacra a fháil intéirneach chun ról ar leith a líonadh, i gcomparáid le dul ar margadh, searching up someone’;s skill and reviews, agus a fhostú iad. Má tá tú sliotán a líonadh, Bheadh a fhostú intéirneach a bheith ina babhta an-mar gheall ar bhealach a théann faoi. An bealach is simplí is féidir liom a chur air, Is Creidim Is intéirnigh infheistíocht sa todhchaí, whereas hiring a virtual assistant is about filling a need right now. An féidir liom a Hire An Intern? Ceart go leor, you’;re down with all of the above, mar sin anois cad? Sa chás go bhfuil tú ag dul? Here’;s a handful of ideas: - Internships.com agus LookSharp –; Seo iad na rudaí is gaire do coibhéisí margadh do intéirnigh. Is féidir leat clárú le haghaidh saor in aisce mar fhostaí, liosta a chruthú, agus a d'fhéadfadh intéirnigh i bhfeidhm. Is é seo an bealach a chuaigh mé, agus beidh mé ag roinnt mo torthaí thíos. Seo ceann de mo liostaí. - Craigslist –; When has Craigslist not been a viable option for something? Tá bord poist do gach mór-uirbeacha, ar whicch féidir leat an bpost. - Isteach –; Má tá tú ag fhostú go gníomhach, a chur ar nasc ar bun ar do leathanach baile sa roghchlár nascleanúna. Seo an liosta uamhnach ó lapaí Impireacht. - Ollscoil Ionaid Gairme –; An chuid is mó intéirnigh mac léinn ollscoile, mar sin ach dul go díreach chuig an fhoinse. Déan teagmháil leis an oifig gairme ollscoil in aice leat, agus féach má cháilíonn tú. Case Study –; Intéirnigh Fhostú Ag Ninja For-rochtana I’;ve worked with virtual assistants for years, ach an uair seo bhí mé rud éigin difriúil i gcuimhne; Theastaigh uaim a thabhairt ar dhuine a shíl mé d'fhéadfadh a bheith i ndeireadh na dála fostaí lánaimseartha má chuaigh rudaí go maith. Fhostú do startups an-íogair, mar go bhfuil an chuideachta bheag, Is féidir le cíos mícheart amháin trína chéile i ndáiríre an t-iarmhéid ar chultúr agus costas an gnó a lán ama agus airgid. Mar thoradh air sin, Is intéirnigh rogha iontach a thástáil na huiscí thar thréimhse fhada ama, ar chostas upfront íseal. Ar an taobh smeach, Bhraith mé mór dúinn a lán le tairiscint, is tosaithe ardteicneolaíochta hiomlán fíorúil. That’;s a rare internship opportunity for most college kids, agus bhí mé ag dul chun é a fhorlíonadh go trí meantóireacht fíor. And yes –; Bhí mé beagán lured ag an smaoineamh saothair saor in aisce. Mar sin, chuaigh mé go dtí LookSharp agus chuir liosta. I didn’;t put a heck of a lot of work into it to be honest. Scríobh mé ach go raibh sé ina intéirneacht aon obair gnóthach ag am tosaithe ardteicneolaíochta. Sampla de liostaí scoth (agus daoine ba chóir duit dul chuig do chomhairle) I measc na: - Impireacht Flipper Margaíocht Printíseach - Uimh Hat Digiteach - I couldn’;t find the listing, ach creidim MBA Tropical tá ceann freisin Le linn na dhá mhí a fuair mé 8 applications. And as one would expect –; an chuid is mó a bhí uninspired, cosúil leis na cinn is dócha chuir mé i gcoláiste; ann i pearsanaithe agus léiríonn cur chuige aighneacht mais soiléir. Bhí fiú litriú agus gramadach botúin (aigne go bhfuil tú na páistí ollscoile Meiriceánach). Ach rinne mé teacht ar dhá a bhí mé a ghlacadh deis ar. Beidh mé glaoch orthu J agus T. Bhí J cailín an-deas ó Princeton. Cé go raibh a cúlra sna heolaíochtaí bitheolaíocha, chuma sí ag iarraidh a aistriú go dtí rud éigin níos mó gnó dírithe. Bhí sí ag obair cheana féin le tosaithe amháin, but wasn’;t getting the real behind the scenes experience she was hoping for. Bhuail mé léi, Mhínigh na téarmaí, agus d'aontaigh muid a thabhairt dó dul. Mo chur chuige le linn an ama a bhí ar fáil go simplí deiseanna. Mar shampla, Thairg mé a lig di: - Dom In éineacht le cruinnithe do chustaiméirí (via Skype) - Freastal ar gach cruinniú gnó a dhéanamh leis na comhpháirtithe - Bualadh liom uair amháin sa tseachtain, ar lena linn a ba mhaith liom a mhíniú an cúlra na cuideachta agus labhairt go ginearálta faoi startups agus SaaS. I mbeagán focal, ní bheadh aon obair gnóthach, den chuid is mó straitéis. Ar an drochuair, tar éis cruinniú leis J 1-2 uaire níos mó, imithe sí díreach. Ná chuala cén fáth, agus ní bhfuair sí an deis chun freastal ar aon chruinniú. Ag an bpointe seo bhí mé go leor i bhfad thrown sa tuáille go dtáinig T chomh maith. T chuma cosúil le dul-getter. He contacted me directly on Skype and set up a time to meet. Bhí sé taithí gnó fíor, am go ndearna sé saor choláiste a rith gnó. Bhí sé beagán eolas maidir leis margaíocht dhigiteach, agus a bhfuil suim acu i bhfoghlaim níos mó. Bhí sé ag dul ar scoil go lánaimseartha, ach bhí socraithe aige ranganna mar gur bhraith sé go raibh sé a lán ama saor in aisce. T rinne sé a lán níos faide ná mar a J. Shuigh muid le chéile agus tháinig suas le plean gníomhaíochta. Suiteáilte sé an bogearraí, teagmhálacha allmhairithe, and was ready to do some lead generation. Chuaigh sé fiú an grúpa G . Ach arís, tar éis cúpla seachtain, imithe sé féin agus mé riamh chuala i ndáiríre uaidh. Conclusion –; Why I’;m No Longer Trying To Hire Interns (Ach Roinnt Comhairle Má bhfuil tú) Bhí mé go cothrom ar an gclaí faoi sé chun tús a chur leis, ach tar éis an dá Iarraidh Sáirsingithe, Chaill mé mo appetite le haghaidh leanúint seo tuilleadh i láthair na huaire. Creidim cinnte gur féidir a bheith a fhostú intéirneach treisiú cumhachtach le tosaithe, ach tá sé chomh maith ar infheistíocht upfront costasach. Is dócha chuir mé i thart 5 uair an chloig i rith an phróisis ar fad; cruinniú leis na intéirnigh agus clár meantóireacht a ullmhú dóibh. That’;s not an awful lot, but it also isn’;t something I want to turn into 50 gan aon torthaí, agus is dócha nár cheart go mbeadh fócas ceart anois. D'fhéadfadh sé a bheith díreach an cás go bhfuil an ról atá againn ag tairiscint ach ní dea-oiriúnach do intéirnigh, agus go ginearálta ach ró neamhstruchtúrtha. É sin ráite, Rinne mé a fhoghlaim roinnt ceachtanna luachmhara ceart as an bat. Ina theannta sin, Déanta agam le beagán cothrom ar thaighde, agus bailíodh roinnt comhairle mhaith liom a blas: - Don’;t have expectations about your guy/gal wanting to be an entrepreneur. - Cuardaigh le haghaidh ar chúiseanna a dhiúltú, glacadh. - Bí sreabhach i gcuid freagrachtaí poist / tascanna. - Tabhair aire a n-seomra / bord agus ó lá go lá chores, más féidir. - A thairiscint ar an gcumas chun intéirneach a fháil ar an obair go lánaimseartha i ndiaidh céim a bhaint amach siad má dhéanann siad go heisceachtúil go maith. What about you –; Tá fhostaigh tú riamh intéirneach?