In a survey my company did in 2019, over 60% of former interns stated that they received zero to minimal communication after their internship ended. We heard statements like “It was a great program, but after it ended, I felt orphaned”. When communication did happen, it was occasional emails with no way to engage or feel like they are still a part of a cohort. Rather than continuing the good feelings of the program, an unnurtured alumni community can actually subtract from the overall experience of the program.
After having built a solid relationship with your interns over a summer this data may be surprising. In most cases former interns leave on good terms and will hopefully be a part of your company again one day. So why is this feeling of abandonment so common?
When it comes to basic communication after the program, companies are often limited by technology. If yours is like most companies, the tools available for Internship Coordinators to enable cohort engagement are all behind the company’s firewall or require a company email; two things that are not available to interns after the program ends. Nor before it starts, which is the subject of an upcoming blog…
Availability of communication and engagement tools across internship lifecycle.So, although disappointing, it is no surprise that interns express a feeling of abandonment after the program is complete.
Every organization measures their internship program’s success differently. But chances are there are many missed opportunities and factors about the post-internship experience that should be considered.
According to an HBR article, Tours of Duty: The New Employer-Employee Compact from June 2013, just because a job ends, your relationship with your employee doesn’t have to. Corporate alumni networks are a prime way to maintain long-term relationships with your best people. Interns are no exception.
The first thing you should do when your program ends is congratulate the interns on completing the program. Give them some swag and a pat on the back, and as a part of your offboarding process welcome them to your company’s Alumni Network! Just because the internship ends doesn’t mean your relationship with your intern has to as well. Corporate intern alumni networks are a prime way to maintain long-term relationships with the goal of building lifelong affiliation with your company. Even if they never work here again.
One obvious benefit of alumni networks is the opportunity to stay top of mind when it comes to filling roles for future internships and full-time positions. But as important, these alumni are highly effective means of on-campus brand management. They can share information about your culture and priorities and introduce their friends, family and colleagues to your organization. It’s especially easy when they can show their classmates your company internship app filled with pictures of the activities of the summer and a directory of the cohort. When done right your former interns will become your brand ambassadors, sharing your message on campus, and at other companies even if they don’t come back to work for you. And helping to fill your future intern pipeline.
Most organizations keep a database of information on all former interns: personal e-mail and phone, LinkedIn profile, areas of expertise, and so on. This is better than nothing but is not easy to manage or utilize. Fortunately, technology solutions do exist which make it easy for intern alums to keep the dialog open with your company. And you will be able to easily search through the database looking for particular skillsets to fill future needs.
My company provides one of these tools. InternConnect is your company’s fully branded intern management and engagement tool that comes with a simple and beautiful interface. The app and website utilizes mobile alerts & chat, as Generation Z demands. It also incorporates emails and a Newsfeed to make it easy to find conversations. InternConnect is the one-stop-shop for your interns before and during your program because it is feature packed with pages for intern directory and profiles, calendar of events, Link Portal for needed web links and a Resource Hub for standard documents and FAQs. Best yet, InternConnect will keep interns connected with their cohort and your company after the program is over.
Post internship your team can blast out communication on open roles, company updates, happenings from your intern team, on campus visits, etc. Your former interns will open the app to see what is new and look up colleagues in the directory. To ensure active participation you can provide benefits for engagement such as industry insights, product discounts (if they apply), and branded swag. The cost is minimal, but the trust, loyalty and goodwill can be significant. Use the calendar to arrange local meetups providing pizza and networking to keep that dialog going. Blend intern groups from multiple years to have an ever-growing and powerful network of alumni interns over the years.
Just like with past employees, your Intern Alumni network is a treasure trove of resources, opportunities, and assets. Most organizations struggle to maintain these relationships. But with just a little effort (and the right tool) continuing the post internship communication will pay dividends.
Greg Jaros is Founder and CEO of InternConnect (www.internconnect.app), an HR Tech company that makes fully branded, customizable apps used by HR departments to coordinate and engage participants of experiential learning programs (internships, co-ops, & leadership programs), employee resource groups, and onboarding programs. InternConnect efficiently connects employees with company resources to foster a sense of community and engagement leading to increased conversion rate, reduced backouts/reneges and increased team efficiency. Greg can be reached at greg@internconnect.app.