Should You Hire Interns For Your Business?

By Perminus WainainaĀ Ā 

As a start-up or growing company, with a lot to get done but only a few employees, you are probably thinking about hiring more people to help ease the workload. The only problem is, you donā€™t have a big budget to work with.

Have you thought about hiring an intern?

In most cases, when hiring an intern, you will hire a young determined person who is looking to gain more experience and boost their CV.Ā  This means that they will be eager to learn as well as impress. This translates to a hardworking employee which is always a plus for any organization.

So what are some of the reasons for actually hiring interns?

1. Interns are cost effective

It goes without saying that when you employ interns you won’t have to pay them the same as if you hired someone with experience.

For example, hiring an administrative assistant with experience might cost you around 35K whereas an intern could cost 15K.

This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t pay interns at all, but the overall cost of labor will be lower than if you hire an experienced person.

You donā€™t need to feel bad about it because you are not the only one benefiting from such an arrangement. The intern also gains work experience which will help them land paying jobs.

2. You get to mold them to fit your companyā€™s needs

An intern is basically like a blank canvas. This gives you the opportunity to train them to work the way you want. As opposed to hiring someone with experience who will bring their own way of doing things that might not fit with your company’s culture or policy.

Hiring interns is an excellent way to build your company. Employees make up the company and it is very important to have employees who are the right fit for your organization.

3. You get to test someone before hiring them

Hiring interns is a way for your companies to bring in new and promising talent, see how well they do, and then depending on how they perform, possibly extend a job offer to them.

Interns may be your businessā€™s best source of your workforce, especially those that do a good job. This is because you will be hiring someone who already knows the job and has proven that they can do it well.

However, hiring interns is not always just a bed of roses; there are some disadvantages of choosing to hire an intern over someone who is experienced.

Disadvantages of hiring interns

1. You will have to do a lot of training

One of the biggest disadvantages of hiring an intern is the fact that they have no solid experience and as such you will have to spend a lot of time and resources training them.

Meaning, it might take some time before they can actually start working.

Hiring interns is never a good idea especially if you want to fill sales positions. If you really want to hire someone who can sell your business or product, then it is better to hire someone who already has experience doing the same.

An intern will take too long to train, meaning you will be missing out on a lot of revenue. So you should never hire interns to fill sales positions. Always get someone with some sales experience.

2. You will experience a high turnover

Most internships are offered for around 3 to 6 months, meaning you will be hiring someone new and going through the training process quite a few times. That is unless you decide to increase the period of internship.

Not to mention, that most interns are looking for experience so that they can be able to get paying jobs. This means that if the person interning for you happens to find another job that pays better, they will leave.

In Conclusion,

When it comes to hiring interns, you have to ensure that you hire the right person. That is why you should consider using a trusted recruitment firm that will ensure you get the right candidates. After all your business will either thrive or fail depending on who you have working for you.

Interns can be a great value addition to your organization, but only if you hire the right people. Ensuring you have the right people working for you will help you curb the high turnover and thus ensure that your business is running smoothly throughout.

If you are looking to hire reliable people who will add value to your organization, contact our client service manager Ms. Muthoni Ndegwa at muthoni@corporatestaffing.co.ke and copy pwainaina@corporatestaffing.co.ke.

Perminus Wainaina is the C.E.O and Managing Partner at Corporate Staffing Services, a leading HR & Recruitment consultancy firm based in Westlands. Through personalized career coaching he assists mid-level and senior professionals get solutions to complex and challenging career issues that they are facing. Click here for more onĀ career coaching.

2 Comments

  1. Hello Ruth,
    Education is important in the job market. Almost always, an employer will look at your education history before hiring you.

    As for experience, different companies have different policies. The more experience you have, the more appealing your application will be.
    You can invest in opportunities that will help build your skills and experiences e.g. volunteering.

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