HR efficiency estimator
How does the HR efficiency estimator from PeopleForce work.
Calculate your impact
Internship
What an internship is, the main types of internships, how an internship differs from a placement and a probation period, and how to run an internship programme
What is an internship?
An internship is a fixed period during which a person gains hands-on experience in a company by doing real work under the guidance of a mentor. Interns are usually students, recent graduates or career changers.
For the company, an internship is a way to grow talent in-house and see someone at work before offering them a role. For the intern, it is a first real experience, a reference and a chance to receive an offer letter.
Types of internships
| Type | How it works |
|---|---|
| Paid | the intern receives a wage or stipend, often with some benefits |
| Unpaid | no pay, usually at non-profits or as part of a study programme |
| Student | combined with studies, a few hours a day or over the summer |
| Graduate and career-change | full time, with a clear path to a junior role |
| Rotational | the intern moves between several teams to choose a direction |
| Remote or hybrid | work from home or partly from the office, with online mentoring |
Internship vs placement vs probation period
| Internship | Placement | Probation period | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who | students, graduates, career changers | students as part of their course | a new employee |
| Basis | internship agreement or employment contract | agreement between the university and the company | employment contract |
| Goal | experience and a possible hire | completing the course requirements | checking fit for the role |
| Pay | depends on the programme and the law | often unpaid | full salary |
Read more about assessing new hires in our article on the probationary period.
How to launch an internship program in 6 steps
- Set the goal. Do you want to grow junior talent, cover seasonal workload or strengthen your employer brand? This decides the format, length and number of places.
- Define roles and tasks. Give each intern a concrete project, the skills they should gain and an expected outcome.
- Assign mentors. Every intern needs a mentor or a buddy with time to support them.
- Run the selection. Advertise on your careers site and at universities, and assess motivation and ability to learn rather than experience.
- Prepare onboarding. A first-week checklist, access, team introductions and a clear plan for the whole onboarding period.
- Review the results. Regular one-on-one meetings, a final review and a decision: an offer, a place in your talent pool or a reference.
How to measure internship success
| Metric | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Conversion to hire | the share of interns who received and accepted an offer |
| Retention of former interns | how many still work at the company a year later |
| Cost per hire | whether growing junior talent costs less than hiring from outside |
| Intern feedback | how participants rate the programme, mentors and tasks |
| Mentor assessment | how well interns met their plan and what they learned |
Internships in the UK
In the UK, an intern who counts as a worker (with set hours and real tasks that add value) is entitled to the National Minimum Wage, whatever the role is called. Unpaid internships are lawful mainly for students on a required placement of up to one year, for work shadowing where the intern only observes, and for genuine volunteers at charities. See the government guidance on employment rights for interns.
PeopleForce helps you take an intern from application to offer. In Recruit, you publish the opening on your careers site and several job boards with job multiposting, move candidates through stages and keep strong ones in a talent pool. After selection, onboarding in Core HR assigns first-week tasks to the intern and the mentor automatically, and in Perform you set internship goals, run one-on-one meetings and a final review. An anonymous survey in Pulse at the end shows how participants rate the programme.
Let us show you what's possible
From Core HR to advanced workforce analytics — see the platform saving 80 hours a month for teams just like yours. Fully tailored to your workflow.