Interns and apprentices can bring fresh new ideas to a business and also contribute to the work of your current teams. There are many pros and cons to taking on an apprentice or intern. Today I’m here to help you to weigh up whether or not an intern or apprentice is the right decision for you.
Pros to having an apprentice
– They bring in new ideas
– Many young people are excellent at blogging and social media
– If you have an internship or apprenticeship contract, this can be cheaper than making a short or long term hire.
– You can delegate simple admin tasks to apprentices such as resizing images, scheduling in social media content and adding information into databases.
– Some young apprentices are extremely motivated and dynamic. They will work hard because they want the reference.
Cons to having an Apprentice
– They WILL need support and coaching.
– You cannot take on an apprentice and leave them without staff to support them.
– Sometimes small business owners can have negative experiences with apprentices. They may be late for example, because they don’t have time keeping skills. They may phone in sick often due to poor motivation.
– Apprentices often are short term and high turnover. For example, many apprenticeships are just 3 months.
– You need to spend a lot of time hiring as a result of the high turnover.
The key is in hiring the right young person. I have had apprentices who have churned out high quality blog posts and bought new ideas to the table for the website and Instagram marketing. I’ve also had apprentices do two weeks and then just not turn up!
The best and most cost effective way I have found for hiring apprentices has been on a platform called GenM (read my GenM Review). It matches business owners with potential candidates a little bit like a business environment version of ‘Tinder’! You can schedule interviews through GenM and feedback on your apprentice performance on a weekly basis. Hire the right person and put in the right support and you will be on to a winner!
Ryan Myers is a business blog author and writer. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2009 with a degree in Political Science. His favorite topics to write about are blogging for small businesses and becoming an entrepreneur.
