5 Ways to Make Interns Feel Like They Belong

In recent years, internships have become an extension of business experiences—a precursor to full-time professional work, you might say. For organizations, tapping fresh minds for potential future employment is a source of continuous growth and development. For interns, getting to see if they like what they have picked for a career is a foundational opportunity that will set the tone for their future.

By providing a welcoming environment, you can help them integrate seamlessly into the workplace. This blog sheds light into a few effective ways to help interns feel like they belong and boost their performance.

5 Ways to Make Interns Feel Welcomed

However, owing to the temporary nature of internships, it can be a challenge to make your interns feel involved or valued. Here are five proven ways to make your interns feel like a core part of your organization.

    1. Kickstart with a Memorable Onboarding Experience

Structured onboarding can make the transition from school/college to work easier by clearly laying out expectations before freshmen start the internship. They can grasp their workload, role, responsibilities, team, goals, scheduling, and task breakdowns. This knowledge allows them to approach work with confidence.

For instance, a two-week onboarding program involving rotation through the business units to provide a sense of operations and the culture can work. This can include shadowing sessions, Q&A forums with senior leadership, and interactive workshops on company values.

Orientation sessions, company handbooks, staff Q&As, and other means of integrating interns into your company’s culture, values, or mission can engage and involve them. They will get to understand why their work should matter to them beyond the paycheck at the end of the month.

   2. Pair with a Mentor/Buddy

At the intern stage, this new transition can be quite overwhelming. An intern with a mentor gets more professional guidance and learns to deal with office politics better than one without. A mentor will often suggest projects or assignments for the intern and explain what the intern needs to do to become a quality employee in management’s eyes.

Additionally, setting up a buddy system, where current interns (even junior ones) support and provide camaraderie to new interns, helps individuals feel that they are not alone in trying to figure things out. They form part of informal networks and feel less alienated.

For instance, a company might assign each intern a mentor from their department and a buddy from another department to promote cross-functional relationships and provide broader support.

    3. Dive into Meaningful Projects

Allowing interns to spend time on ‘real projects’ shows them that their work is contributing to major company goals. Real projects often involve big revenues, social impact, collaborations, or innovation. Working on at least one big project throughout the internship term makes interns feel that what they did made a difference. Integrate them into team projects where they can work with full-timers on specific initiatives.

For example, a marketing firm might have interns work on a live client campaign, allowing them to see how their contributions directly impact the company's success.

    4. Cultivate Open Lines of Communication

With regular supervisor check-ins, interns can discuss their progress, seek advice, and explore any challenges they may have faced. It is an opening for them to become an integral part of the team, as an open-door policy ensures that supervisors and senior management members are easily approachable. This practice allows interns to be creative, participate in discussions, offer suggestions, and think from a different perspective to solve a company challenge. Seeing their suggestions work in real time can help increase their confidence and make them want to engage more.

For example, organizing a biweekly one-to-one between interns and their supervisors promotes trust and responsiveness.

    5. Include Interns in Social and Professional Events

Organize group lunches, outings, and virtual events. Engaging interns socially and professionally helps them feel included, form bonds, and connect with team members. Invite them to training sessions, workshops, and industry conferences to expand their knowledge and professional network and demonstrate the organization’s commitment to interns’ growth. For example, a firm could include interns in annual retreats or quarterly team-building activities and invite them to attend industry seminars and networking events.

Final Thoughts

Finding, hiring, training, and grooming interns are now important steps in building a business’ talent pipeline. Plus, you give crucial in-office experience to freshmen, most of whom have never worked professionally. If you don’t act quickly and effectively, this new setting can easily make interns feel separate from the team and the company’s vision.

Creating the perfect environment for interns involves management’s commitment to employee growth, engagement, inclusion, open communication, and innovation. Structured onboarding, mentorship opportunities, and encouraging participation are a few great ways to make interns feel like they belong. By focusing on an immersivegreat experience, you ensure that interns are motivated to learn and want to come back for more, effectively priming the pipeline for their future employment.