Piotr Wajda: Interns need real tasks

By Piotr Wajda, originally posted on LinkedIn ^[1].

Hey People Managers!

Are you assigning a separate project for your intern? You’re doing it wrong!

I heard multiple stories about managers assigning separate projects to an intern.

• “This is an outstanding thing we’ve been postponing ever since.”
• “Nobody wants to tackle this project”
• ”Let’s give it to interns”.

You’re happy because finally this project nobody wanted to tackle, will be done, and at the same time intern won’t disturb your team and their priorities.

Have you ever thought about how it ended and what was the intern’s feeling about this? Usually, these intern projects either aren't completed or are completed, but not according to company standards. This is detrimental to interns and your company too. Interns don’t learn real teamwork in this setup. They can also feel neglected.

I remember I made that mistake, but fortunately, this was just once!
Since then every intern joining my team has been immediately assigned to the regular team’s work. Of course, they are given leeway at the beginning of their journey, but once they are warmed up, they are full-fledged team members.

This allows learning from other members of the team and learning the process. They work on high-priority tasks and see the value they give to the company.

The most recent interns following this process are Pramila Dalavai and Mateusz Mulak. They are valuable members of our team and one of the reasons for this is that they started working with us as regular team members.

How do you onboard interns?