Continuing Education Credits:
- 13 HRCI – HR(General) Credits
- 13 SHRM – PDC’s
Schedule: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Eastern Time on Both Days
Why You Should Attend This Training Program
In times of economic downturn, organizations are forced to do more with less fewer resources, tighter budgets, and limited bandwidth. While layoffs and hiring freezes become common responses, these actions can leave businesses unprepared for future growth. This is exactly where a well-structured internship program becomes a powerful strategic tool. It allows companies and nonprofits to build a sustainable talent pipeline without overcommitting financially. By investing in early-career professionals and students through internships, employers can address short-term support needs while grooming potential full-time employees for the future, all within a controlled, lower-risk environment. This approach not only supports lean operations, but it also plants the seeds for long-term workforce development, even during financial uncertainty.
The current labor market continues to show signs of deepening skill shortages across nearly every industry. Many organizations are struggling to fill key roles, particularly at the entry level, where fewer candidates are applying and retention is low. Our 13-hour 2-Day Strategic Internship certificate program helps business and HR leaders proactively address these gaps by creating a structured internship model designed to develop future leaders from within. Instead of relying solely on external recruitment (which is increasingly expensive and time-consuming), organizations can cultivate a reliable source of talent that’s already been trained, evaluated, and immersed in the company culture. This not only improves retention but significantly reduces onboarding and hiring costs down the road. Internships are no longer just “nice-to-have” programs, they’re strategic recruitment solutions that benefit companies of all sizes and across all sectors.
Internship programs, when thoughtfully planned, serve as one of the most effective ways to connect workforce development with real organizational impact. This training program goes beyond theory; it provides employers with the templates, tools, and insights to create meaningful learning experiences for interns while addressing real business needs. Whether you operate in healthcare, education, finance, government, logistics, tech, or the nonprofit world, the strategies taught in this program are industry-agnostic and can be tailored to fit your organization’s size, structure, and staffing model. Participants will learn how to craft structured projects, develop strong supervisory systems, and create win-win experiences that support the intern’s growth while driving results for the team. At a time when employee morale and innovation are needed more than ever, internship programs can infuse your workplace with energy, creativity, and fresh perspective.
In today’s climate, every investment must show measurable value, and this program equips participants to build internship strategies with clear ROI. From reducing hiring costs to increasing workforce readiness, participants will walk away with the tools to measure program success, evaluate intern performance, and gather data that justifies future funding and expansion. But more than numbers, a successful internship program enhances an organization’s public image, strengthens relationships with academic institutions, and builds a brand that future professionals want to be part of. When others are downsizing or pausing talent development, your organization will stand out as one that continues to invest in people, purpose, and performance. That kind of leadership doesn’t just get noticed—it gets remembered.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this program, participants will be able to:
- Design a customized internship framework that aligns with their organization’s strategic goals, staffing needs, and operational capacity.
- Develop clear learning objectives and project scopes that provide meaningful work experiences for interns while delivering measurable value to the organization.
- Create compliant, ethical internship programs by understanding legal guidelines, including the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Department of Labor’s Primary Beneficiary Test.
- Build internal buy-in across departments by educating supervisors and stakeholders on the value, structure, and expectations of a successful internship model.
- Draft effective internship job descriptions and leverage multiple recruiting channels—including colleges, job boards, and local partnerships—to attract qualified applicants.
- Conduct structured interview and selection processes tailored to interns, focusing on potential, learning agility, and alignment with organizational values.
- Implement onboarding and orientation procedures that introduce interns to workplace culture, clarify expectations, and set them up for early success.
- Establish supervision and mentorship strategies that ensure interns receive regular feedback, support, and coaching throughout their placement.
- Create evaluation tools and offboarding procedures that allow for performance assessments, constructive feedback, and conversion to future employment when appropriate.
- Measure the return on investment (ROI) of their internship program through intern performance metrics, retention tracking, and post-program feedback to continuously improve outcomes.
Topics Covered
- The strategic value of internships during economic uncertainty
- Internship programs as workforce development tools
- Aligning internship goals with organizational needs
- Assessing readiness to host interns
- Designing internship frameworks for any industry
- Defining the scope and purpose of your internship program
- Internship vs. job shadowing vs. volunteer work
- Creating mission and vision statements for internship programs
- Gaining internal buy-in across departments
- Budgeting for internships: paid, unpaid, and stipend models
- Understanding the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
- Complying with the Department of Labor’s Primary Beneficiary Test
- Legal risks of unpaid internships
- Ethics and integrity in internship program development
- Working with legal and HR teams to establish safe practices
- Determining internship timelines (semester, summer, year-round)
- Identifying appropriate learning outcomes
- Creating project scopes that benefit both intern and organization
- Designing job descriptions that attract high-potential talent
- Recruiting strategies: schools, online platforms, and community networks
- Creating inclusive internship opportunities (without using DEI language)
- Recruiting nontraditional interns (veterans, adult learners, etc.)
- Best practices for marketing internship opportunities
- Building partnerships with colleges, universities, and high schools
- Conducting intern interviews and evaluating potential
- Screening resumes for learning ability and transferrable skills
- Matching interns to supervisors and departments
- Onboarding interns with clarity and consistency
- Developing intern orientation templates
- Introducing interns to your workplace culture and values
- Setting expectations and defining success from day one
- Supervising interns: balancing support and accountability
- Mentorship vs. supervision: knowing the difference
- Providing effective feedback and coaching
- Managing workload to ensure learning and contribution
- Engaging interns in team dynamics and collaboration
- Navigating generational differences in intern communication
- Conflict resolution strategies for intern-related issues
- Tracking intern performance and development
- Creating performance review tools for interns
- Recognizing signs of disengagement or misalignment
- Planning meaningful offboarding and exit interviews
- Offering letters of recommendation and references
- Creating future hiring pipelines from intern talent
- Measuring internship program ROI
- Collecting intern feedback and satisfaction data
- Showcasing intern success stories to attract future candidates
- Using internship programs to build employer branding
- Scaling internship programs for future cycles
- Ensuring sustainability and continuous improvement
Target Audience
This certificate program is designed for professionals across all industries and sectors who are looking to build or strengthen internship programs that are legal, sustainable, and strategically aligned with organizational goals. Whether your organization is a startup, nonprofit, corporation, school, or government agency, if you’re ready to invest in future talent, this program is for you.
- Human Resources Professionals
- Talent Acquisition & Workforce Development Leaders
- Career Counselors & Academic Coordinators
- Small Business Owners & Entrepreneurs
- Nonprofit, Government & Community Organization Leaders
- Operations, Department Heads & Functional Managers
Templates, Letters & Forms Included
- Internship Program Planning Checklist: A comprehensive planning document that helps employers assess readiness, set objectives, select departments, and outline timelines.
- Internship Job Description Template: A fillable template with sections for learning objectives, responsibilities, required qualifications, hours, and supervision details.
- Intern Offer Letter Template: A customizable offer letter format for extending internship opportunities, with fields for compensation, duration, hours, supervisor info, and expectations.
- Intern Learning Agreement: A three-way agreement signed by the intern, supervisor, and school (if applicable), outlining goals, tasks, timelines, and mutual responsibilities.
- Intern Onboarding Checklist: A detailed checklist to ensure a smooth onboarding process, covering introductions, policies, technology, orientation schedule, and more.
- Intern Performance Evaluation Form: A mid-program and/or final evaluation form for supervisors to assess intern performance, growth, reliability, communication, and contribution.
- Intern Feedback Form (Exit Survey): A survey template for interns to evaluate their experience, provide feedback on supervision, learning, challenges, and suggestions for improvement.
- Intern Project Work Plan Template: A tool to help managers structure weekly intern projects, track progress, and align tasks with learning outcomes.
- Internship Completion Letter / Certificate Template: A polished, fillable letter or certificate to formally acknowledge an intern’s successful completion of the program.
- Letter of Recommendation Template: A ready-to-edit recommendation letter format that allows supervisors to easily recognize top-performing interns, useful for job or grad school applications.
The Strategic Internship Certificate Program isn’t just training, it’s a game-changer. Whether you’re starting from scratch or refining an existing internship model, this program gives you the tools, structure, and insider strategies to create internship experiences that deliver results. From compliance to culture, recruiting to retention, you’ll walk away with everything you need to build a program that attracts top talent, boosts organizational performance, and strengthens your employer brand. Invest in your future workforce, and your organization’s success, by building internship programs that actually work.
