A lot of organizations don’t realize the many benefits of hosting an intern can bring them. This is not just cheap labor we’re talking about here: An effective internship program can flip the dynamics of your recruiting efforts, boost your image on college campuses and increase your productivity over the summer months.

So if you are still wavering on the idea of bringing an intern into your organization this summer, take a few moments and keep reading this post.

Regardless of the size of your organization, you can reap untold benefits. If you need help in developing your internship strategy, just contact us at info@internbridge.com for a free 30 minute consultation!

Here are just five of the many reasons we list in “Total Internship Management” for why you should consider getting an intern.

1.) To identify future hires – Research shows that one of the most common reasons HR professionals host internship programs is the opportunity to scope out full-time employees. By giving them a trial run, both you and the intern have the opportunity to decide if it’s a good match. This means if you offer an intern a job after the internship ends, you know it’s a quality hire and they know it’s a quality job, from first-hand experience. It’s a win-win situation.

2.) Conduct recruiting activities with low risk – You could think of an internship as a semester-long interview of the student, where you can cut them loose at the end if it doesn’t work out. Granted you provide them the educational experience an internship requires, an internship program can be a good way of trying someone out without having to endure the discomfort of firing someone afterwards.

3.) Build relationships with local colleges – When you reach out to a college to promote your internship program and they hear your internship program is valuable, you just achieved incredible PR for your company. Not only will this improve your image among young people, but it will also probably lead to professors recommending internships at your company, thus bringing you talented young interns and quality, prospective hires. Score.

4.) Pipeline for additional candidates – Even in the case that you offer an intern an extended internship or full-time position and they turn it down, the student still might throw another quality intern your way. If not directly by referring someone, indirectly by word-of-mouth. So, hiring one intern can plant the seed for a number of quality interns to grow. You never know what can come from that intern relationship.

5.) Gain short-term talent – If an intern isn’t a good enough candidate for a full-time position, it doesn’t mean the internship was a waste for your company. They can still help out with projects and provide a fresh set of eyes while they’re there. It’s not so black and white, where an intern is job material or a total waste of time. You can just enjoy them while you have them and then send them back to their college when the internship is over.

This doesn’t even scratch the surface of what an internship can provide for your company. As stated in “5 Reasons You Should Hire an Intern — and 3 Reasons You Shouldn’t” by Heather Huhman on Forbes.com,  “Hiring an intern greatly increases the productivity of your company because you are able to get more work done everyday without denting your budget.”

Find an intern and enjoy these benefits sooner rather than later!