5 Benefits to Hiring Interns as an Entrepreneur

Some time ago I read an article for entrepreneurs on why having interns is a great experience, and decided to try it out. SH International is now working with our third intern since starting the program. Some of the benefits I have seen:

• Extra confidence- a lot of students might be really excited about the opportunity to intern with your company. Hello self-esteem boost! Entrepreneurship is difficult psychologically, because the self-doubt can be overwhelming at times. Having interns excited to learn from you and support your business can be continuously uplifting.
• High quality help. While having someone full-time could be preferable, highly-competent full-time help is pricey. You may be lucky, and like us end up with interns from the best business schools in the country without breaking a limited budget.
• Companionship. A lot of entrepreneurs work solo or with a small core team. Having someone else around can be very pleasant. If you travel, you could benefit from offering an intern the opportunity to shadow you. When I took an intern to Dubai, I felt a bit safer crisscrossing the city for multiple meetings being with someone else. Not to mention that she managed our heavy schedule and provided detailed notes on all meetings.
  
• Experience managing employees. Having interns gives you practice for hiring full-time employees.  You can gain experience with the hiring process and management of feedback, expectations, and frustrations from the perspective of The Boss. It is a huge commitment to bring on someone full-time, and having the wrong team can be less effective than working alone. This experience can be invaluable, helping you avoid costly mistakes in the future.
• Satisfaction of mentoring others. Interns are at the beginning of their careers, and want advice. Helping students grow and gain experience can be an incredible honor.

Every internship is unique in what it offers to students. Some of the benefits that interns experience with SH International:

• Multifaceted exposure to emerging markets business issues, including marketing, finance, and law.
• A broader world view and hands-on experience- start-ups like ours can offer interns real work.
• On-the-ground international work experience, when possible. The intern that I took to Dubai was absolutely thrilled and frequently told me how jealous her friends were.
• Mentoring and skills training. I taught one intern how to make a financial model from scratch.
• A great resume entry. Let's face it- our resumes are key to our future success. We offer our interns incredible hands-on experience in an area where it is hard to get- emerging markets business. Their experiences also give them a lot to talk about in their job interviews.
  

Maybe I’ll ask our current intern to write a blog post about her experience so that you can get a deeper perspective from her.