Build Your Business (on a shoestring): Hire a College Intern

Written by Tara Alexandra Kachaturoff


Continued from page 1

5. Offer benefits other than money. Money is notrepparttar “be all, end all” of a relationship with your intern. Many interns are looking to learn new skills which can best be learned in a real-life scenario. They also knowrepparttar 119512 importance of networking andrepparttar 119513 possibilities that might accrue by meetingrepparttar 119514 right person atrepparttar 119515 right time. In addition, if they really enjoyrepparttar 119516 experience (and you do, too), they’ll want you to write them a letter of recommendation or serve as a reference inrepparttar 119517 future.

There are other ways you can “compensate” your intern. Consider developing a coaching program for them which entails teaching them your business in an organized manner. Teach themrepparttar 119518 steps of creating a business from scratch. By having them assist with all aspects ofrepparttar 119519 business, you may be opening uprepparttar 119520 door for them to start their own.

Consider offering them commissioned-based compensation based upon product or service sales they close on their own. Or, you might design an internship where they can earn college credit. Contactrepparttar 119521 appropriate faculty member in charge of credit-based internship programs to see if you might be able to create a development program which will fulfill some of their elective credit hour requirements. 6. Minimum requirements. Before you’re ready to contact your local college or university to placerepparttar 119522 advertisement for an intern, make sure you haverepparttar 119523 following information ready:

• Company Name • Company Address • Your Name • Telephone Number (you may not wish to give out your telephone number so that applicants are forced to submit resumes through fax or via email) • Fax Number • Email Address • Job Description (including complete list of expected tasks, expected number of hours to be worked, days to be worked (if necessary), hourly rate of pay (if applicable), negotiable rate (if you wish to evaluate their qualifications before setting a rate) • Type of college major desired (business administration, accountancy, finance, computer science, etc.) • How best to contact you (phone or email) and what to send (resume, letters of recommendation, transcripts, etc.)

7. Contact career services. Once you’ve gathered allrepparttar 119524 necessary information, contactrepparttar 119525 career services center of several local colleges and universities. They will either give you online access to a system where you can input your job description information, or you can simply provide them withrepparttar 119526 information and they will do it for you. Once your posting is approved, it will be made available for students to access.

8. Gather resumes and start interviewing. Allow your advertisement to be posted for at least two weeks. Start sorting through resumes right away to see who might berepparttar 119527 best fit. Begin setting up interviews immediately to findrepparttar 119528 best candidate forrepparttar 119529 position.

9. Interviewing. Ask both closed and open-ended questions. Closed-ended questions require a yes or no answer, whereas open-ended questions request explanation and elaboration. Find out about their prior work experience; ask for examples of how they’ve handled particular situations, all while carefully evaluating their communication skills. You might even ask for a copy of one their class papers to assess their writing skills. Make sure that you are comfortable with them in every aspect. After all, you will be entrusting them with your top priority – your business.

10. Status reports. You might consider asking your intern to fill out a weekly status report which tracksrepparttar 119530 assignments completed, including how much time each task required. It will giverepparttar 119531 intern a sense of accomplishment with respect to their contributions, while providing you with useful information about what has been completed.

11. Enjoyrepparttar 119532 benefits. There’s so much to gain from building relationships with others. Whilerepparttar 119533 intern is learning from you, you’ll be surprised at how much you will learn from him or her. Encourage them to take ownership and pride in what they are doing, praise and acknowledge them frequently for jobs well done, and welcome their comments, criticisms, and contributions.

Using college interns to help you with your business is not only a cost-effective way to get things done, but it’s a wonderful way to contribute torepparttar 119534 knowledge and experience of someone who might very well follow in your footsteps. In any case, it can be a win-win situation for everyone.

Tara Alexandra Kachaturoff is an executive coach, trainer, consultant and professional speaker with over 15 years of corporate experience. She coaches executives, professionals, and entrepreneurs on leadership, business and lifestyle issues and has been featured in radio, print, and television. She is the owner of CoachPoint™, www.virtualleverage.com, and www.relationshipplanning.com.


Exceptional Leadership Inspires the Best Effort in Others

Written by Michael Beck


Continued from page 1

Servant Leader Philosophies - In our leadership workshops, I'll ask participants whorepparttar most important person is to a company. The answer, of course, isrepparttar 119511 customer. The question that follows next is, "Who isrepparttar 119512 most important person inrepparttar 119513 company to that customer?" Most people get thatrepparttar 119514 person most important torepparttar 119515 customer isrepparttar 119516 one they come in contact with -repparttar 119517 "frontline". The question that follows isrepparttar 119518 real key to a better understanding of servant leadership. This question is, "What, then, isrepparttar 119519 job ofrepparttar 119520 manager of those frontline people?" The job ofrepparttar 119521 managers ofrepparttar 119522 frontline folks is to make their job as easy and as effective as possible so thatrepparttar 119523 customer hasrepparttar 119524 best experience possible! If this leadership philosophy is adopted throughout an organization, it ends up with an organizational chart that looks like an inverted pyramid. It is an organization that acknowledgesrepparttar 119525 importance ofrepparttar 119526 frontline and reflectsrepparttar 119527 philosophy of service throughout.

* EFFECTIVE PURPOSE, MISSION AND VALUES

An organization which inspiresrepparttar 119528 best effort in its people will attractrepparttar 119529 kind of employees it wants and needs, and will retain them. It has a Purpose, a Mission, and a set of Values that it lives by, it effectively communicates them, and it measures its actions and decisions against them.

- Purpose isrepparttar 119530 "WHY" ofrepparttar 119531 equation. It defines why we do what we do. Each decision and policy should takerepparttar 119532 company closer to achieving its "WHY". When a company has a clearly defined purpose it begins to act as a magnet, attractingrepparttar 119533 kind of people who will furtherrepparttar 119534 purpose; people who are like-minded. Not only will having a purpose attractrepparttar 119535 right people, but it will also act to retain them.

- Mission isrepparttar 119536 "WHAT" ofrepparttar 119537 equation. It defines whatrepparttar 119538 company will be doing to achieve its Purpose. A mission can be fairly narrow or be somewhat broad. However, one that is too narrow can unduly restrict an organization from considering opportunities that would otherwise be an excellent fit and one that is too broad offers no guidance at all.

- Values arerepparttar 119539 "HOW" ofrepparttar 119540 equation. Values define howrepparttar 119541 Mission will be carried out in an effort to achieverepparttar 119542 Purpose. They definerepparttar 119543 “rules ofrepparttar 119544 game”. Some of them will come to mind quite easily, things like honesty, courtesy, kindness, and ethics. But some other important values will only surface when brainstorming takes place - when different perspectives and voices are heard.

* EFFECTIVE PEOPLE SKILLS

I’ll often ask clients or workshop attendees forrepparttar 119545 traits ofrepparttar 119546 best boss they ever had andrepparttar 119547 traits ofrepparttar 119548 worst boss. Inevitably, I’ll get answers like: (Best) respected my ideas, worked to develop me, challenged me, listened, empowered me and let me make my own mistakes,… and (Worst) micro-managed, was overly demanding, poor communicator, mistrustful, … What’s interesting is that in no case wererepparttar 119549 technical skills orrepparttar 119550 intelligence of a boss either praised or condemned. Allrepparttar 119551 notable traits, both good and bad, had to do with people skills. The goal of effective people skills is good Relationship Management. Relationship Management encompassesrepparttar 119552 ability to develop others, inspire others, influence others, resolve conflict, and build teamwork and collaboration.

CONCLUSION

The essence of exceptional leadership isrepparttar 119553 ability to inspirerepparttar 119554 best effort in others. When people choose to give their best effort, satisfaction increases, pride develops, innovation is born, productivity improves, stability prevails, and profitability increases. The keys to a highly performing organization are creating an inspiring environment and personally becoming an exceptional leader. We can create an inspiring environment by adopting effective leadership philosophies and clarifying a Purpose, Mission and set of Values. We can personally become a more effective leader by honing and acquiring effective people skills. Become a leader who inspiresrepparttar 119555 best effort in others.

Michael Beck is President of Exceptional Leadership, Inc., a leadership development and executive coaching firm dedicated to creating exceptional leadership for higher profits and greater job satisfaction. Michael can be reached at 877-977-8956 or mbeck@XLeaders.com, and you can learn more about the company and these ideas at www.XLeaders.com.


    <Back to Page 1
 
ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005
Terms of Use