Internships are the Secret to Cutting Costs

It's important to look at the big picture when hiring a new employee. Although it might appear to be critical to fill a vacant position, it may actually be more worth while to consider all of your hiring options first because the cost of a mis-hire is more than you’d ever imagine.

In fact, the U.S. Department of Labor, states the cost of a bad hire can equal up to 30% of the individual's first-year potential earnings. In other words, ONE bad hire with an annual income of $50,000 can cost an employer up to $15,000. Ouch.

No one has time to watch their money go down the drain, so it's time to learn how to avoid it before it's too late. 

Have you ever considered an internship program? If you haven’t, it may be time to start. 

Internships are nothing to laugh at. Not only are they beneficial for young professionals, but the benefits employers will reap are well worth it.

Perks for Employers

Aside from new perspectives and perhaps a competitive advantage, internships are one of the best and easiest ways for companies to build a personal talent pool and get the biggest return on investment.

 Cultural fit - The traditional route of recruiting new hires through interviews and skills assessments will only give you so much insight into the personality and cultural fit of a candidate. Hiring interns will allow you to evaluate the individual’s’ level of compatibility to that of the company culture and workplace environment.

Elite Talent Pool – Not only are you getting a first hand look at the talent coming out of college, but employers get to see potential full-time employees with direct exposure to thieir own company!

Cutting Costs - Devoting your time and resources to recruiting and training talented individuals will be beneficial in the short and long term.

Short Term Perks – You are able to utilize talented individuals that have a fresh perspective on business practices from their college curriculum without having to make a hiring commitment.

Long Term Perks – You are able to gather a pool of experienced individuals to hire as a potential full-time employee after experimenting with their presence in the workplace.

Competitive Advantage - Believe it or not, interns provide a competitive edge for employers because of their relevant, industry related experience working in a business environment. As a matter of fact, 81% of employers find new hires with relevant internship experience are better prepared for the workforce than those without internship experience. 

‘Returnships’ – Internships sometimes even develop into 'returnships,' a internship-like program for experienced people who have taken an absence from the labor force. Did you know employees who are former interns are more likely to be with a company at both the one-year and five-year retention benchmarks? And in 2014, employers made full-time offers to 64.8% of their interns - talk about workplace sustainability!

Internship programs provide a vast array of benefits to companies willing to make the investment. Before you make a bad full-time hire, consider an internship program and it may cut your costs.