How to help interns feel appreciated

Being able to properly integrate interns into your company is an important goal of any internship program, but it’s vital to also make sure they feel valued and are able to gain professional experience. This can be achieved through a number of initiatives and steps, like those outlined below.

Comprehensive onboarding

A strong onboarding process sets up interns for success by introducing them to your company’s culture, as well as expectations for the intern’s role. On top of a warm welcome, make sure that the necessary administrative setups are completed.

System and product training

To help interns work more confidently and independently, provide them with thorough training on the tools or systems they will use. It may also be worthwhile to give them a detailed overview of the company’s products or services.

Formal training sessions and resource availability

You can show an investment in an intern’s long-term success by providing sessions on broader topics like the company’s history, departmental or internal procedures and security awareness. You can also empower them to be proactive and resourceful by letting them know how to access any resources, whether these are people, documents or tools.

Why intern appreciation matters

While internships have been historically seen as a way for people to gain valuable work experience and jumpstart their careers, they are also a way for employers to obtain new ideas, scout future talent and obtain additional employees for a period of time. Showing the interns that work with your company that you appreciate them can benefit your organization in a variety of ways. 

1. Strengthening intern recruitment

Colleges and universities often ask interns to complete evaluations of their internship placements. When you provide them with a positive experience, like a strong onboarding experience or a mentor to provide guidance,  and show gratitude, they may be more likely to rate your organization favorably. In turn, this can increase the likelihood that their schools will want to maintain their relationship with you and potentially make it easier for you to find interns in the future.

2. Furthering proactive hiring strategies

Hiring interns can help you meet your current business needs, and building relationships with them can be a great addition to your proactive hiring efforts. After all, proactive hiring is about establishing relationships to create a pipeline of candidates you can draw from when you have open positions in the future. 

How you treat interns, including providing them with career opportunities and furthering their knowledge, can go a long way toward cultivating positive relationships with interns, who you may one day wish to hire on a permanent basis. 

3. Better morale

Saying thanks to interns can make your workplace a more positive place. Recognition can encourage a positive attitude among your interns and contribute to overall better morale among your entire team to increase retention and support productivity.

4. Increased engagement 

When you show appreciation to interns, you demonstrate that their contributions matter. Being able to see how they fit into the big picture at your organization helps interns feel more engaged and can encourage them to go above and beyond when performing their duties.

8 intern appreciation ideas

There are many ways you can show appreciation for interns at your organization. Let the following list of ideas inspire you as you brainstorm internship appreciation methods.

1. Hold a National Intern Day celebration

The last Thursday in July is National Intern Day, a time when employers across the United States take the time to thank interns. Get in on the observance by hosting a company-wide celebration. You could have a cookout, order a cake, organize employee games (in-person or virtual) and plan other fun activities to make the day special.

2. Acknowledge interns publicly

Put your interns’ achievements front and center by thanking them publicly. You can make posts on social media, add an article to your company newsletter or put a featured article on your company blog to introduce your interns and acknowledge their contributions.

3. Start an Intern of the Month program

Recognize interns throughout the year with an Intern of the Month program. Allow employees, managers and other employees to nominate interns and describe why they deserve the title. Choose a winner monthly, and make announcements through email. .

4. Letter of recommendation

If you don’t have a placement for interns once the internship is over, you can still help them connect with others in your network who might be hiring.

You can do this with a detailed letter of recommendation that highlights the intern’s contributions and achievements during their time with your company. Ideally, the letter of recommendation should be digital to allow the intern to easily share it with potential employers or include in any online profiles.

5. Organize activities during working hours

You can show appreciation for your interns by organizing activities during working hours.  These can include activities like:

• Social events. Give interns an opportunity to mingle with other team members in a more informal setting. These can be casual team lunches or coffee breaks.

• Career chat sessions. You can show an interest in an intern’s growth and help them gain valuable experience by organizing career chat sessions to discuss their professional goals.

• Project showcases. When possible, let interns lead a presentation or project showcase. Doing so can help them build confidence and feel a sense of accomplishment.

6. Cater lunch

Treat interns to a catered lunch from a local restaurant. On the day of the event, give them an extra-long paid lunch break so they can enjoy their meals, relax and socialize.

7. Provide rewards

Recognize intern achievements with small rewards, such as gift cards for coffee or gas or free company-branded merchandise. You may also want to extend any employee discount you offer to your current team of interns.

8. Provide feedback and offer guidance

Feedback is the foundation of professional development, and this is especially true for interns who are in the early stages of their career. Your intern program should include structured and constructive feedback sessions  to help with an intern’s professional growth. Constructive feedback should be goal-oriented, actionable and aligned with the objectives of the internship.

Tips for recognizing interns

The above list can serve as a starting point for planning intern appreciation events and creating initiatives for intern recognition. Take things one step further and establish a culture of appreciation for interns at your organization.

Establish an intern appreciation budget

Before planning any event or launching any initiative, determine how much you can afford to spend on recognizing interns. You may want to set aside a portion of your employee appreciation budget or allocate funds from another area to your efforts.

Practice top-down recognition

Make recognizing interns a priority for your executive leadership team to lead by example. When upper management consistently looks for opportunities to thank interns, other managers and supervisors are likely to feel inspired to do the same.

Look for informal recognition opportunities

Intern appreciation is more than just special events. Informal recognition can have a powerful impact on interns as well. Encourage managers and supervisors to recognize interns on a day-to-day basis. Simply saying thank you one-on-one or giving the interns a shout-out at the beginning of a meeting or in a quick email blast can be meaningful.

Look for opportunities to actively highlight an intern’s contributions in team meetings or company newsletters. You can support their work by crediting them directly, which can also increase confidence and showcase their value company-wide.

Encourage peer-to-peer recognition

Take intern appreciation beyond management by providing ways for your employees to recognize interns and for interns to recognize each other. You can set up a form for coworkers to share each other’s achievements and successes in your department where team members can drop in notes of thanks for one another.

Ask exiting interns for feedback

Schedule an exit interview for interns at the end of their placements. You can discuss a variety of topics during the interview to gather feedback to improve your internship program. Add questions about appreciation to your interview list. You might ask things like:

• Did you feel that you gained knowledge you can take into your next role or developed relationships that can help you throughout your career?
• Tell me about a time when a supervisor or manager recognized you during your internship.
• How do you feel your successes benefited our organization?
• What did you think of [name of intern appreciation event or program]? Would you change anything about it?
• How can we do better at recognizing interns in the future?

FAQS about intern appreciation

When should I recognize interns?

National Intern Day can be a fitting time to show appreciation to interns, but in some cases, a single annual recognition day may not be enough. In many cases, interns may only work for your organization for a single quarter, meaning some will be left out of the fun of a once-yearly event. As a result, you may want to organize other events and programs for each class or group of interns. You could schedule it for partway through their internships or toward the end of their placements as a way to wrap up the experience.

How does intern appreciation differ from employee appreciation?

You can recognize interns in many of the same ways that you show appreciation to employees. However, time is an important factor to consider, as interns are looking for opportunities to learn and grow while trying to secure a position. Intern appreciation can involve opportunities for professional development, like workshops and training sessions, as well as networking opportunities.