The benefits of recruiting interns – from an intern’s perspective

When I began my internship at Retention Science, I was 19 years old and had just finished freshman year of college. The only business skills I could put on my resume were abilities in Microsoft Word and Excel. Being eager to learn, however, I knew I could prove myself in the business world if I had the chance – so I made it my personal goal to be hired as an intern during my summer break. Luckily for me, Retention Science gave me that chance.

From the very first day I started, I was able to witness how companies are built from the ground up. Retention Science has a passionate team made up of extremely smart and talented people, which was inspiring in itself. What I appreciated the most, though, was the family environment and strong work ethic everyone shared, as well as the fun and welcoming office culture.

My main role consisted of assisting the sales and marketing departments. I took on tasks such as market analysis and competitor research, which gave me an opportunity to work on projects that really mattered to the company instead of just sorting mail or alphabetizing files.

I also gained exposure to many aspects of the business by sitting in on sales calls, attending marketing meetings, and listening to discussions on lead generation, website design, and company branding. All the skills and experience I was able to gain from this internship are not things that can be learned in the classroom: I learned what methodology to follow when writing sales one-pagers, what questions to ask when creating branding, and important topics to discuss during sales meetings. I learned to understand the different departmental roles and contributions that go into making a company run smoothly.

My internship not only helped me gain valuable workplace skills, it allowed me to see firsthand the commitment and dedication necessary to keep a start-up afloat and on the path to success. I also feel I have a better idea of where my strengths lie, and which skills I want to develop as I figure out my own career path. It was a truly rewarding experience, and I’m proud of the projects I worked on at Retention Science. After my summer intern experience, here is how I believe recruiting interns can benefit your company:

1. Promotes leadership skills

It’s a team effort to help interns adjust to our new work environment and help provide us with real work experiences. Everyone becomes a mentor and has a chance to create tasks and recommend how to work efficiently. We allow team members act as role models and share their experiences and knowledge – and we’re eager to learn!

2. Frees up your time

We as interns want real, meaningful work that showcases our talents – work and accomplishments that we can put on our resumes. Allowing us to tackle projects that have been put on the backburner because of time constraints gives us real-world work experience while taking the load off your team.

3. Offers fresh perspective

Not only do interns provide extra sets of hands, we can also offer a new approach to rethinking your typical “this is how we usually do it” mentality. Our novel perspective and fresh ideas can help generate sales ideas and marketing strategies. Plus, we’re pretty tech and social-media savvy!

Ana Dewar