Internship programs provide the best of both worlds. Here at Snyder Group we have been on the hunt for interns both to help us, and to be a part of the Group. Our art director Ian Carr recently made a trip up to his old stomping grounds at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield Connecticut, to talk to the senior class of graphic designers and give them a taste of what the real world is like. Since all of us here at the Group have been back and forth on what the positives are of taking on an intern, we wanted to share our top 3 reasons to have an intern join your company:

1. You get to assess someone who you might want to work for your company in the future. Too often people are hired who are not the best fit for the company. An internship helps both intern and company test the waters before hiring.
2. They aren't just there to help, they want to help. Often we get bogged down with the "simple" tasks in our daily routines. In the studio, we spend time reviewing and editing copy, and on the management side, we spend a lot of time organizing meetings and forwarding e-mails. Having an intern can help with these small processes, making your company work more efficiently, and is great experience for them.
3. New faces! As a working professional, you get used to the "day in, day out", where you say the same hello to your assistant every morning, pour the same cup of coffee, and sit in on the same status meetings every Tuesday at noon. A change in the office, with a fresh (and usually young) face enlivens the the office. Some may be surprised how much a little bit of new energy thrown into the mix can change the morale of a company.

And on the flip-side, here are top 3 reasons for a student to take on an internship:

1. Apply what you have learned. Lets face it, you spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on your college education. With that investment, you are getting knowledge and/or a particular skill or trade. Consider an internship your final test. You want to take the knowledge and skills learned and apply them. Take this time to refine what you do know, and discover what you don't know. Take this time to discover what you do like, and what you don't like.
2. Network, Network, Network. While an internship program may not work out at the end of your stay, you will leave with contacts within the industry. You'll know what companies in your trade are looking for, as well as make contacts in your internship company. There really is not much of a loss when it comes to building your pile of business cards.
3. The experience you need. It's no secrete, most "entry" level positions still require a significant amount of experience. They want people who have an idea of what they are getting into at their company, and that "idea" comes from an internship. It's that piece on your resume that separates you from the other recent college graduate, and show's that you have real business experience.

-IFC