Why You Should Hire Interns for Your Office

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Great article and I agree with Nathan's point above.
Another point that I'd add to the list: virtual internships. Often times, growing companies need interns but don't have the office space to accomodate extra people. Luckily, interns are so comfortable working virtually that business owners can hire an entire team to work remotely. At any given time, we see virtual internships making up about 30-40 percent of the positions posted on our site (Urban Interns). Certainly there are some best practices that business owners need to follow to make this model work effectively, but I'd add that as another reason to the list.

Cari Sommer, Co-Founder, Urban Interns www.urbaninterns.com of NY 10:52AM January 13, 2011

Andrew I really enjoyed the post -- all of your 8 points are spot on.
There is one other major benefit to hiring interns which missed the list -- in the current down economy, interns are the number one way in which employers vet and recruit young talent. Last year over 70% of interns were offered a job at the end of their internship. This is because an internship is a lot like a 12 week long interview, and gives both parties the opportunity to ensure there is the right culture and office fit before moving forward with an offer. This effectively eliminates many of the fears employers have when bringing on new hires, and is a major benefit.
Also, for SMBs the ability to transition interns into full-time hires can be used as a tool to recruit students who may normally look to bigger brand name companies.
Thanks again for highlighting so many important points -- it is exciting to see that more and more companies are realizing that interns are no longer for ad hoc labor.
Nathan Parcells
Founder
InternMatch.com

Nathan Parcells of CA 10:34PM January 12, 2011