10 ms·

Ask HN: What do you ask your interns as they finish up for the summer?

46 points by ryanchants 8y ago

CryoLogic 8y ago
I mean if you are using interns as a way to find future employees, I'd check out the code they wrote for the best metric. Most of them are probably hungry for a high paying tech job, and will tell you they want an offer / want to work with you. Even if to just get another offer for some bargaining power. It's probably worth asking them questions about how easy it was to ramp up and such if you are in a position where you can improve those systems. Check out the code, is it well written? Modular? Documented? Did they go through the proper steps in your sprints / documentation? Ask their mentors if they asked questions when blocked, etc. If they worked hard, had a good attitude / could get along with the team and wrote good code (remember they are new to coding most likely) - and you think they have a lot of potential than consider giving them an offer.
- ryanchants 8y ago
  I can do all of this outside of a one-on-one/exit interview type conversation though. We really focused on iterative feedback during their internship.
ForrestN 8y ago
What can we do to make our internship program more inclusive and less reliant on the preexisting privilege of our interns?
- ForrestN 8y ago
  Thanks for the downvotes for literally posting a question I've asked interns in the past. Always important to remember the reflexive cultural conservatism of HN's audience.
  - jimcsharp 8y ago
    Have you gotten any meaningful answers from your interns?
    - ForrestN 8y ago
      Yes
      - colinb 8y ago
        Now you've really piqued my interest. If you're able, please tell me more about the kind of answers you got.
  - DoofusOfDeath 8y ago
    I didn't down-vote you, but I should mention that your first post's phrasing led me to assume you were making a snarky critique of current culture, rather than sincerely answering the question.
    - ForrestN 8y ago
      I don’t think it’s actually snarky at all, though.
      - DoofusOfDeath 8y ago
        Based on how you intended the post to be read, I agree it's not snarky. Taking the post to be snarky was one fundamental aspect of my misinterpretation.
  - dang 8y ago
    One reason the site guidelines ask you not to complain like this about downvotes is that often, by the time the dust settles, people have given more upvotes. Then in addition to being off-topic, the complaint is misleading. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
- edjw 8y ago
  Do you pay your interns?
  - sadamznintern 8y ago
    who the hell doesn't??
    - krageon 8y ago
      A surprising amount of companies do not (or pay them a symbolic amount) and think it is completely normal. It's ridiculous, but it happens nonetheless.
      - replies_to_all 8y ago
        Yeh, not in the sciences
  - ForrestN 8y ago
    Yes
- jongold 8y ago
  I have no idea why you're being downvoted for this.
katamaritaco 8y ago
I'd consider asking them how _they_ felt about their experience/the company/procedures/etc.. Getting fresh eyes from an intern can provide valuable insight into things you're doing right, and things that could be improved.
- ThorinJacobs 8y ago
  +1 On this, and I'd want to encourage them to provide this feedback throughout the internship as well, not just at the end. Sure, sometimes they'll have suggestions that we've considered and decided not to do, but if it's a common question we should document. For helping the interns, I'd talk to them about what they learned, what their next career steps are, and what subjects they're most interested in. Ideally, you have a mentorship program setup already where this has already been discussed, so this may end up being very brief. But even without a mentorship program, having good discussion about how you can help the interns aside from just having an extra line of experience on the resume is healthy for both sides. For improving the program for future interns, I'd also ask them what they wished they knew when they first started their internship. For all of the above, make sure that it's a safe environment to have honest discussion - for instance state outright that they're not going to burn bridges by pointing out process flaws or talking about working at other companies in the future.
- ryanchants 8y ago
  Yeah, I think this is what I'm looking to focus on. We're a small startup, so interns are a new thing. So I'm going to focus a lot on how it felt settling in, getting up to speed. What can we do better to get people comfortable faster? What were their biggest pain points in the summer. It's just interesting framing these to someone who may not have much experience to compare it to.
DoofusOfDeath 8y ago
In case the basic questions aren't obvious: - What were your goals for the internship, and how do they compare to what you actually got out of it? - What are the top 3 things you'd change about the way our internship program works? - What are the top 3 things you think worked well? - If you could repeat the internship knowing what you know now, what would you do differently? - What advice would you give to company leadership (at any level)?
replies_to_all 8y ago
I had a great pre-med this year and honestly felt bad that I was not able to challenge him more, that being said i asked him: Q1. What did you not like about the experience - A. Too much micromanagement Q2. What would you have liked to see done differently. - A2. Have had a more compartmentalized (and smaller) project. Q3. What are your plans next and what can we offer going forward?

46 points by ryanchants 8y ago

I mean if you are using interns as a way to find future employees, I'd check out the code they wrote for the best metric. Most of them are probably hungry for a high paying tech job, and will tell you they want an offer / want to work with you. Even if to just get another offer for some bargaining power. It's probably worth asking them questions about how easy it was to ramp up and such if you are in a position where you can improve those systems. Check out the code, is it well written? Modular? Documented? Did they go through the proper steps in your sprints / documentation? Ask their mentors if they asked questions when blocked, etc. If they worked hard, had a good attitude / could get along with the team and wrote good code (remember they are new to coding most likely) - and you think they have a lot of potential than consider giving them an offer.

ryanchants 8y ago
I can do all of this outside of a one-on-one/exit interview type conversation though. We really focused on iterative feedback during their internship.

ForrestN 8y ago

What can we do to make our internship program more inclusive and less reliant on the preexisting privilege of our interns?

ForrestN 8y ago
Thanks for the downvotes for literally posting a question I've asked interns in the past. Always important to remember the reflexive cultural conservatism of HN's audience.
- jimcsharp 8y ago
  Have you gotten any meaningful answers from your interns?
  - ForrestN 8y ago
    Yes
    - colinb 8y ago
      Now you've really piqued my interest. If you're able, please tell me more about the kind of answers you got.
- DoofusOfDeath 8y ago
  I didn't down-vote you, but I should mention that your first post's phrasing led me to assume you were making a snarky critique of current culture, rather than sincerely answering the question.
  - ForrestN 8y ago
    I don’t think it’s actually snarky at all, though.
    - DoofusOfDeath 8y ago
      Based on how you intended the post to be read, I agree it's not snarky. Taking the post to be snarky was one fundamental aspect of my misinterpretation.
- dang 8y ago
  One reason the site guidelines ask you not to complain like this about downvotes is that often, by the time the dust settles, people have given more upvotes. Then in addition to being off-topic, the complaint is misleading. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
edjw 8y ago
Do you pay your interns?
- sadamznintern 8y ago
  who the hell doesn't??
  - krageon 8y ago
    A surprising amount of companies do not (or pay them a symbolic amount) and think it is completely normal. It's ridiculous, but it happens nonetheless.
    - replies_to_all 8y ago
      Yeh, not in the sciences
- ForrestN 8y ago
  Yes
jongold 8y ago
I have no idea why you're being downvoted for this.

katamaritaco 8y ago

I'd consider asking them how _they_ felt about their experience/the company/procedures/etc.. Getting fresh eyes from an intern can provide valuable insight into things you're doing right, and things that could be improved.

ThorinJacobs 8y ago
+1 On this, and I'd want to encourage them to provide this feedback throughout the internship as well, not just at the end. Sure, sometimes they'll have suggestions that we've considered and decided not to do, but if it's a common question we should document. For helping the interns, I'd talk to them about what they learned, what their next career steps are, and what subjects they're most interested in. Ideally, you have a mentorship program setup already where this has already been discussed, so this may end up being very brief. But even without a mentorship program, having good discussion about how you can help the interns aside from just having an extra line of experience on the resume is healthy for both sides. For improving the program for future interns, I'd also ask them what they wished they knew when they first started their internship. For all of the above, make sure that it's a safe environment to have honest discussion - for instance state outright that they're not going to burn bridges by pointing out process flaws or talking about working at other companies in the future.
ryanchants 8y ago
Yeah, I think this is what I'm looking to focus on. We're a small startup, so interns are a new thing. So I'm going to focus a lot on how it felt settling in, getting up to speed. What can we do better to get people comfortable faster? What were their biggest pain points in the summer. It's just interesting framing these to someone who may not have much experience to compare it to.

DoofusOfDeath 8y ago

In case the basic questions aren't obvious: - What were your goals for the internship, and how do they compare to what you actually got out of it? - What are the top 3 things you'd change about the way our internship program works? - What are the top 3 things you think worked well? - If you could repeat the internship knowing what you know now, what would you do differently? - What advice would you give to company leadership (at any level)?

replies_to_all 8y ago

I had a great pre-med this year and honestly felt bad that I was not able to challenge him more, that being said i asked him: Q1. What did you not like about the experience - A. Too much micromanagement Q2. What would you have liked to see done differently. - A2. Have had a more compartmentalized (and smaller) project. Q3. What are your plans next and what can we offer going forward?