ID intern - is it too late

So,

I am thinking of bringing on a ID intern for the end of the fall semester - this may either be a summer internship or a summer/semester long internship.

I am wondering if i am too late to the game in the sense that the top talent already have internships all lined up…

Thoughts…

Doesn’t hurt to try. Things get cancelled or people change their mind.

Why does it have to be a student?
There are plenty of recent grads that would love do a good internship to boost their experience and portfolio.

because we have tx rules and restrictions. the “intern” must be a full time student at the time of the internship - no way around it unless i hire them as a full time employee for 6 months.

You know how students are, a lot never get internships. I bet there are a few good ones out there!

Ah I see. That’s a shame.

So there is no way to hire an intern that is not in school?
This is quite a strange rule and I really don’t get that.

I was hired in the US (SF) as an ID intern after I had graduated but that was through a trainee visa.
I guess for american recent grads, there are no options other than to get hired full time or contract/freelance for a while?

I wouldn’t say that - there are many companies that hire recent grads as Interns (ideally paid) - it just matters if they have a program that is set up in connection with a government program and how they do their taxes in relationship to it. I have worked now at 2 companies that have this set up. (tax purposes) I have also worked a companies that i didn’t have this restriction. - i still do not understand to this day why so many schools do not have internships built into their programs.

It is the same situation in Germany at least. If you want to get an internship after you graduated you can do it but your employer has to register you as an employee and pay taxes and at least minimum wage and everything. Most companies will therefore simply just hire students - much cheaper. I have never seen an intern here that already graduated. The idea behind that is that people with a degree shouldn’t destroy the market by interning for the next ten years of their life. Ideally people who are not ready for the market shouldn’t graduate yet anyway, in my opinion.

And on the topic: I think being a “top talent” and looking for an internship late in the season are two things that have little to do with each other. I think attracting top talent has less to do with timing and more with the prestige the company has to offer.

well they would get to work with ME! so i should have people beating down my door… :smiley: :laughing: :unamused:

@cwatkinson, apologies for hijacking your thread. If this sparks more discussion I will open my own :wink:

My situation in San Francisco was a little different. I am European and Trainee/Internship visas aka J1 visas can only be obtained if you have graduated.
There is no quota and they can be applied for year round but yes, companies will have to pay the intern a living wage.
My personal rule has been to only consider unpaid internships during my studies in the summer and then only paid internships if necessary after graduation.
So I did 3 internships during my studies of which only one was paid and 1 well paid traineeship after my studied which lead to fulltime employment.

From my experience, it was tough to make internships happen while I was studying as I was only able to to this during the summer when there where no classes. Which also meant I could only commit to 3 months. This is barely enough time to get your foot in the door anywhere, especially not if you have very little “real world” experience.

The traineeship after I graduated was amazing and I am very grateful I got the opportunity. I was able to commit for 6+ months without the pressures of being a junior designer and the all privileges that come with being an intern.

In general, I don’t agree that you should only be allowed to intern during your studies. That time is a stressful and expensive one as is.
If people can make that happen in their free time and don’t have to work during the summer to swing their education or if it is being covered in their curriculum, good for them. But that is not an option for everyone.
We all know that completing as many internships as possible is important in order to learn about different ways of working and areas of design. To put this pressure solely on students during their studies makes a lot of them start masters even though they shouldn’t and instead probably would be better off interning.

Of course people shouldn’t be kept in intern positions for years and I believe that possibly max 12 months with a living wage is a good time frame.
Internships and traineeships give both the intern and the company a low-cost/low-commit opportunity to evolve and learn while at the same time test a possible candidate. A place half way between student intern and junior designer.

I have seen this in the consultancy scene in SF a lot and I know lots of other industries are doing this.
My girlfriend was a communications intern in Munich after graduation which also turned into a fulltime position a few months later.

Check the new rules for interns – it all changed on January 1.