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Subject:Re: Setting up internship program From:Elna Tymes <etymes -at- LTS -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 24 Jun 1999 13:56:52 -0700
Pete-
Pete Harbeson wrote:
> I'm interested in setting up an internship program in technical writing.
> <snip> Has anyone set up a program like this? We're located in the Boston
> area, so
> there's no shortage of colleges and universities -- do you work closely with
> specific institutions, or just post your internship jobs? Do all internships
> involve course credit? Do colleges work with you in placing interns, or do
> you do all your own interviewing? How much do you pay your interns?
First off, congratulations on being so forward-thinking. Internships are a
great way to get to know a potential employee's talents, to help bring
real-world experience to someone just getting started, and to learn what the
current crop of new graduates are bringing to the business world.
My company regularly sponsored internships until we changed company directions
about a year ago. We let the local junior colleges and universities know that
we had paid internships available, and described what the internship involved.
We did all the interviewing and hiring. We never had a shortage of applicants,
and we were very pleased with the interns we hired. All of them have since gone
on to well-paying jobs in Silicon Valley, some as technical writers, some doing
web-related work, some doing other forms of information technology.
There was no university credit for our internships, but they were paid. They
started out at $10/hour for a three-month probationary period, and then were
promoted and given raises as their performance indicated. The entire internship
program lasted a maximum of one year; at the end of that year they either had
been promoted to something else within the company or left the company. We
never had anyone make it to the one-year mark as an intern.
I've since seen two other companies where there were publications interns, and
in each case the interns moved on to full-time employment within the company.
I *strongly* encourage you to create and supervise an intership program of your
own. Be aware that there is a serious time commitment involved in teaching
skills and refining/editing their work. However it's very much worth a
company's time and energy to develop and implement such a program.
