Communication between company and student
The level of communication between intern and company can strongly influence the effects of the internships. Miriam was not happy in the first weeks of the internship, but after
communicating this to her boss, things changed and she ended up getting good learning outcomes and was overall very satisfied with the internship. She explains that she was given work she believed gave little value to the business and it was not enough work to keep her busy. However, as it was only her and the founder in the Houston office, they developed a close relationship, and she felt comfortable explaining to him how she felt and they discussed possibilities of how to solve this issue.
Mary, who was not happy with having cold-calling as her only task, also decided to
communicate to her boss that she was not happy, although she did not feel the same ease as Miriam in doing so. She talked to her professor at the host university and was advised to talk to the manager. After talking to her professor, she felt more comfortable and did address the dissatisfaction she was feeling with her boss. Things got better after this, and in one of the lectures, she was asked to speak about her experience. She concluded: “I did learn that it helps to discuss issues if something is not working and I learned how to do it in an appropriate manner.”
Capability, willingness, positivity
The level of initiative taken by the student can also enhance the quality of the internship. In fact, several companies believes that the level of independence and initiative taken by student was the main cause for a valuable internship. With the expression: “Although I trained the interns with the basics, it was still up to them if they wanted to make an impact or not”, George obviously believes an intern’s attitude is key for a successful internship.
Sam was one of the students who had little supervision since the whole company was situated in another country, and describes that he felt lost at first. After a few weeks, he had taken
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initiative to solve the problem without guidance, using his own ideas and approach. He describes that instead of feeling lost he felt positively challenged: “I learned a lot. You should not give up, you just have to think in new ways, and that is what we kept doing throughout the internship.”
All the companies interviewed emphasise that they value interns that proved to be
independent and that took pride in their work. This is illustrated by Oscar’s quote: “The smart interns were very focused. They were almost like; if they did not accomplish something, they felt like their time was being wasted. That was good for our company”.
Martin explains that prior to the matchmaking-event he would look at the students’ resumes but that the interviews with the students was what they based their decision on: “We wanted people that were outgoing and seemed genuinely interested in our company. Susan agrees and explains that they wanted someone who had guts and was able to dive into new and unknown territory. They also wanted someone with another mindset than the technologists in the company. She uses an example of creating an investor presentation: “It is better to get
someone new that does not know the product that well to create investor presentations. If you are the inventor, it often gets too complicated. By hosting interns, I learned how to explain the product in a less complicated manner. I have improved my communication skills. Before, we struggled with the way we explained things.”
Most companies say that one of the main benefits of hosting interns was hearing the interns offering a second point of view and bringing new ideas to the table. Martin reports: “She [the intern] went to investor meetings. She actually got very good. She contributed. One thing I liked about her was how she was very wise for her age. In meetings she could bring up points. She was not afraid to do that, she did not ask permission, and it was awesome! It was great to have her contribute. One time I had an issue, and it was something related to the rest of our team who are situated in another city, and she came up with a brilliant way to handle it. And I was like ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ That is what I look for in people. I want people who do not need to be supervised, are smart, can think for themselves, and are not just trying to do what they think I want them to do. I want to have that dialog, if you disagree with me. Cause you know, maybe I'm wrong.”
George also describes how he appreciates getting the interns point of view: "Although they would always be nervous while presenting, they usually presented very good solutions, and
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often different solutions than I was expecting”. However, Oscar argues that not all interns are capable of making an impact based on their mindset when undertaking the internship: “I think that the smarter ones adapt very quickly and I think they are smart when you put them in the right situation they can quickly adapt, and quickly evolve to provide value. The ones that do not are kind of clueless, because they do not know what to do. They come in everyday and just kind of go through the motions and then they go home right. But, I feel like some people evolve much faster than others. I think the question is what they want out of it. I think that is a question that the program organisers should ask the interns.”