How to embrace and smoothen an internship

An internship is a formal programme offered by organisations to assist students and recent graduates in training and gaining work experience. The goal of an internship or apprenticeship is to learn new skills in order to secure future employment.

Various organisations are urged to embrace internships. However, are companies well equipped to apply this model with their work demand and entrust employees to transfer skills and knowledge to a student who is yet to learn and work at the same time?

Poiyah Media has embraced this model since its inception. There have been advantages and disadvantages from an employer’s point of view and from the students’. Some challenges include interns who lack guidance from their supervisors. Given that most interns have never worked in a real working environment, they will need guidance and direction from their supervisors if the organisation expects them to produce quality work. This often leads to frustration from a busy corporate as the demand to deliver is high priority, on top of grooming an intern.

Interns also face the challenge of being assigned tasks they are unfamiliar with or lack knowledge about. This is exhausting and unfair because interns are expected to do tasks they have no knowledge of and at times have nothing to do with their career choice, due to the need to accumulate work experience.

MTC is one of many organisations that recognises the value of internships and provides funding for them. MTC has provided funds to interns at various organisations, Poiyah Media being one of them. MTC's chief human capital officer Tim Ekandjo recently announced that the company is ready to upscale this project to become a national vehicle for internships.

MTC and the Office of the Prime Minister will collectively contribute N$2 million per annum, while Ekandjo added that nationally, 48 000 students are in dire need of internships to graduate. The question remains, is an internship model well understood within organisations and are the mentors assigned to supervise geared for this additional task while carrying out their daily job description?

Are there mechanisms put in place when companies find this model quite challenging, especially when interns struggle to cope with work? The most critical aspect of any internship is to delegate and not spoon-feed too much. Make it clear to them that they are a valuable asset to the company and that their efforts are appreciated. As employers, keep in mind that interns who are students have a lot of schoolwork - be realistic with work demands. They are still new and have never been exposed to a working environment, which may be an overwhelming experience. Employers should also avoid assigning interns too many tasks at once. This can result in a state of panic, as well as poor quality work delivery.

In conclusion, to ensure that your internship model works within your organisation, you must understand how to effectively communicate with interns. Allow them to express themselves and to provide feedback freely and frequently. Create a happy working environment to further enhance their fullest potential. It is also critical to provide them with the resources they may require to complete their tasks. This will result in high-quality work and a pleasant working environment not only for interns, but for everyone in the organisation.