Exploit your intern!

Interns in small businesses were the topic when I heard a radio programme in August 2012. At Amino, we had two interns, and I wanted to describe some of the tasks and experiences we were working with.

Interns in small businesses with real tasks

I talk about work on a recipe website, where an intern helped think through the concept and contacted chefs about contributions.

I also mention market research, competitor analysis and questionnaires as tasks that could interest both the business and the student.

There had to be something to learn

I wanted to show how a small business worked in practice. An intern could get an insight into a workplace, meet people and get feedback on their own ideas. Also read Min vej som leder about my experiences of developing people and leading a business.

I talk about discussing an entrepreneurial project with one of the interns. To me, it was an opportunity to give something back beyond the daily tasks.

The business also had to get value from the internship

My comment was very provocative. I argued that a small business also had to be able to get help with real work if it was to have the time and resources to take on an intern.

At the same time, I thought you should behave properly and give the intern something relevant to take away. The harsh words in the video are my rhetoric from the debate.

The story is from 2012. It doesn’t establish rules on pay, duties or internships and isn’t a guide to using a particular internship scheme today.

The radio got me thinking about internships

I was listening to Radio 2 and made a little joke that, if they were wondering who their listener was, it was me. A programme about interns made me think about an opportunity many entrepreneurial businesses might not notice. I hadn’t given it much thought myself before either.

I was talking about longer internships of one, two or three months as part of an education. I mentioned graphic design, programming and other courses with internships. It wasn’t a precise overview of schemes and conditions.

The short, one-week work experience placement was something different. I talked about my own week in a pet shop, where I cleaned aquariums all week. It was a terrible experience that certainly didn’t make me want to become a pet shop owner.

I wasn’t saying no one should take pupils in for a week. But I wanted to discuss the longer placements, because they could give both the company and the intern more time to get something out of working together.

Two interns in a small business

At that point, we had two interns at Amino. I described us as a small outfit with six employees. So we weren’t a large company with a huge organisation supporting the internships.

I kept hearing that companies didn’t have the time or couldn’t be bothered to take interns. As an entrepreneur, I thought you could miss a fantastic opportunity if that was all you saw.

We had been lucky with two lovely, bright interns. I thought people in education often had a drive that was exciting to bring into the company. That was my positive starting point.

At the same time, I used a very harsh phrase: in my view, an internship was a mixture of needing to learn something and what I called slave labour. I thought real tasks also had to be done if the business was to make the placement work. The word was my provocation in the debate, not a description of a permitted form of employment.

A recipe website provided a real task

One of the interns worked on a recipe website connected with Min Mave, which we were also involved in. He helped research and develop the idea and think about what the website should look like.

He had an influence on the concept and contacted well-known chefs and restaurants to ask whether they would contribute recipes. Among others, I mentioned Nicolai Kirk as someone he wrote to.

It wasn’t just an isolated task with no connection to anything. He had to find people, contact them and help shape a website. I thought it was a way to give responsibility and let an intern experience an idea becoming something concrete.

I also gave feedback on the intern’s own idea

Another intern came to me and asked whether I had a little time. Then he presented his own entrepreneurial project.

I criticised the project, gave it a beating, as I called it, and offered input and ideas. That was my way of helping him move forward while he was with us.

In the video, I initially presented the figures very bluntly: perhaps 90 per cent of the time went on data entry and other work we would otherwise have to do ourselves or buy from outside, and ten per cent on work very relevant to their studies.

But I also corrected myself. Ten per cent might have been too low, and I didn’t know whether it was more like ten, twenty or forty per cent. The figures weren’t a measured account of the interns’ time or a proposal for a fixed rule.

My point was that daily tasks and learning could be mixed together. I didn’t think something was only valuable if it constantly looked like an assignment from school.

You also experienced a real workplace

I argued that an intern could gain a realistic insight into being part of a team. I said very bluntly that a new young employee could also be the one making coffee, sweeping the warehouse and taking on other practical tasks.

I felt that when you were new, you sometimes had to put in a bit more effort. That was my view of starting at a company, not a guide to which tasks a particular internship scheme could include.

For me, the network was part of the value. You got to know people and companies, gained an idea of what was going on and began to see working life from the inside.

I also wanted to give the interns confidence that they could create something themselves. If school felt boring, real work did not have to be.

I grew impatient with theories about innovation

I talked about some material from a new entrepreneurship book that divided innovation into phases and concepts. I could not even keep track of the terms, and my response was a very blunt: Shut the fuck up.

One intern said it looked like what they were learning at school. My reaction was that I thought people could spend far too much energy defining innovation instead of coming up with ideas, writing them down and selling them.

I said, bluntly, that the textbooks stank, but also that of course he should read them and pass his exams. That was my frustration with the gap between teaching and action, not a call to drop out.

I felt that as entrepreneurs, we could offer a break from that way of thinking and show some of the reality. I was very harsh in my assessment of the connection between school and business. It was that energy and drive that I wanted to pass on.

Market research could benefit both sides

Another example was market research for a new product we were considering. It was something one of the interns wanted to work on, so I thought he should be allowed to do it.

He could research competitors and survey Amino users about their views on particular things. We could learn about the market, and he could get an assignment relevant to his studies.

I also mentioned a design student who could work on a website and a programmer who could build a database. There were many kinds of tasks in a small company, and I thought it was worth considering where a student’s interests might fit.

In my opinion, you should not just sit there fussing over an intern. They could contribute some real work. I also used a provocative example involving 80 per cent work less relevant to their studies. That was another rhetorical figure in the video, not evidence or a recommended split.

I wanted to talk about the company’s finances

My criticism was aimed at the idea that you could get companies to take on interns simply by appealing to their social responsibility. I felt companies also needed to see an economic benefit.

I put it very bluntly: Did taking on an intern add anything to the bottom line, or was it just another burden? For a small company that was on its arse and short of orders, it was about keeping its head above water.

I made up an example of an expensive information campaign involving Lars von Trier, a film on TV 2 and 50 million kroner. That was an exaggeration to make my point clear, not a reference to an actual campaign at that price.

I said companies might give polite answers in a survey or at a meeting because they wanted to be decent people. But in the pressures of everyday work, I felt they also had to consider time, tasks and money.

That was why I called interns cheap labour and argued that we should dare to talk about it. At the same time, I stressed that of course you should treat them properly and give them something relevant to take away. The video sets out neither pay nor rights for an internship.

I asked about schemes and what interns themselves had to offer

I ended by asking viewers to share links to internship schemes in the comments on YouTube, Thorborg TV, Facebook or wherever they were watching the video. I wanted to know where you could look for interns.

To the interns, I said: Tell people what you can do, when your internship is due and what you can offer a company. At the time, I suggested starting a thread on Amino if you wanted to join an entrepreneurial business.

I used a very crude, humorous phrase about letting yourself be exploited and being willing to do anything. That was my push to introduce yourself with energy and a desire to contribute, not a call to give up your rights.

What I hoped was that more interns and companies could find each other. The company should get help, and the intern should get experience, advice and confidence in their own abilities. Both were part of my very provocative contribution from 2012.

Read also about thinking further ahead in your career.

Have a great weekend. Best wishes, Martin