How to Transition Summer Interns to Ongoing Part-Time Employees

There are many reasons you should transition summer interns to ongoing part-time employees once the school year starts back up. Consider how difficult it can be to find smart and hardworking people to join your team. You already have the perfect potential teammates as valuable summer interns! These summer interns were getting hands-on experience within your company and training under great mentors to learn the business and grow and hone their skills. 

Now, you could go on to hire new part-time employees for the fall, but you already have trained and knowledgeable candidates who understand your office culture and may be looking for part-time work between their classes. Keep in mind that summer interns and part-time employees often have different hours and different responsibilities 

Express Your Appreciation

First, take any opportunities to express your appreciation for all of your interns’ hard work this summer. When you have a good intern that you would like to hire on as an ongoing part-time employee, you want them to feel valued in the workplace. Otherwise, there will be no transition to speak of. Continually tell them how they are doing, and tell them why they would make a great addition to your team and how you can help them grow, with their goals in mind. 

Discuss Career Paths

Now that your summer interns feel appreciated and they are eager to join the workplace as a part-time employee, it is time to discuss career paths. As an intern, they had the opportunity to learn about multiple sides of the business and shadow different employees in powerful mentorship programs to see their responsibilities. Naturally, the part-time opportunities depend on your business, but if there are multiple available, discuss with your intern which career path is best for them. 

Understand your summer intern’s major and the goals for their career after graduation and how your part-time opportunities can help prepare them with the skills they need. You can also consider what they excelled at during their internship and utilize their training to place them in a fitting part-time spot. Did they do best in customer service, technology help, or doing inventory? Every job is important and you want to help your interns succeed as they take on more responsibilities within your team.

Set Expectations

In order to properly transition your summer interns into ongoing part-time employees, you all have to be on the same page and set your expectations. This includes not only the roles that you are looking to fill as mentioned above, but what responsibilities differ between an internship and a job. Keep in mind that interns don’t tend to take on much actual responsibility and spend time on smaller tasks and shadowing other employees. What kind of duties will you expect them to take on as a part-time employee, especially while you don’t have to spend a lot of time training?

Other expectations to discuss and set include regular discussions during a typical interview, such as what they can expect in terms of compensation and the weekly hours expected. If the internship was paid, how does the compensation compare to the part-time pay? If it was unpaid, you do want to compensate your new part-time employee fairly, so ask what they expect and you can negotiate from there.

As an intern, they likely didn’t have class during the summer and could devote full-time hours to the internship. How many hours do you expect your part-time employees to commit to the role? While it may vary week to week, do you want to agree around twenty, or are you fine with more or less? Based on a student’s major and year, they will have varying hours that they can commit to the role. 

It is critical that you are both honest about your expectations for the part-time role so that the transition is much smoother. 

Dive Right In

While a transition usually might be something more gradual, you don’t need to take it too slow with your interns turned part-time employees. They know and understand the operations conducted by your business. While there may still be formal training they have to complete as part-time employees to be certified in certain areas, they know the lay of the land. Plan their schedule right away so they can jump into work as soon as their summer internship ends. 

Considering these are interns you have just spent the entire summer with, transitioning them into ongoing part-time employees isn’t too difficult. Just make sure you keep communication open and honest as you discuss where they best fit in at your company. You never know, they may even become full-time employees after graduating if everything goes well! Continue to look out for opportunities to help them grow within your team and help them blossom while keeping their goals in mind. They may align with your own better than you both expect.