What You Need to Know About Hiring Interns - JobLab

Editor's Notes

• #2: AC
• #3: AC Hey guys we’re the founders of JobLab. We’re going to give you a quick rundown on hiring interns, benefits of using them, risks of abusing them and where to find them
• #4: MS When things pick up and you’re a bit overwhelmed, startups often think the best thing to do is find themselves an intern to pick up the slack. But it’s important to really think about whether you need one or not. There are a lot of other options that actually save you a lot of time and hassle over managing a person in-house.
• #5: MSIf you’re just looking for someone to help out with: Data Entry | Lead Gen | Bookkeeping | Design | Copywriting | Blogs you may be better off finding yourself some help online. We use UpWork and people per hour to help with these tasks. We can manage the workload easily and pay for projects as and when and be reasonably sure the people you’re using are able to do what they say they can do.
• #6: MSIf you need help with more complex tasks, Reports, Setting Meetings | Press Releases | Finding Investor it’s worth looking at a Virtual Assistant. They seem to be all the craze and offer excellent value. We’ve not used one ourselves or any of these services but speaking with some founders and using the magic of google these are the top three we came accross. You pay by the hour and have a highly skilled team member you can use on deman
• #7: MSWe managed to get some promo codes for these sites, we’re not affiliated we just went on live chat and told them we were doing a presentation so they gave us some offers. Which is probbaly a good lesson in itself if you ever want some discounted software
• #8: MSOkay so you dont think it can be done by a VA, or outsourced team. You have some complex tasks and you need somone very smart but cant afford a professional. You see value in bouncing ideas of someone or have a specific project you need help with. Maybe you just need some company too, startus can be very lonely places..
• #9: MSSo it sounds like you probably need an intern...
• #10: MSThe first thing to make sure you have in place in a clar structure and a plan for the work they’re going to be doing. There’s nothing worse then heading in to work and having to think about tasks you’re going to be delegating as it takes focus away from the work you’re meant to be doing. So take the time to put a structure in place and define what you want to get out of the intern and what they can get out of internship. Make sure every tasks is set to help you achieve your vision, dont get somoene to sit on social media if it’s not part of your strategy. And manage your expectations, these will be young, hungry smart people but they will not be polished. They wont have the same phone manner, they wont understand or value your business as much as you. Dont let that frustrate y ou just understand and accept it.
• #11: MSThey bring us on quite nicely to the next point which it mak sure you have done the work yourself. You need to know and be an expert in it before getting someone t take the reigns. In the early days we hired a sales intern and were making him do complex sales calls before we have really understood the structure ourselves and noone was benefitting. Least of all the person on the other end of the phone!
• #12: ACSo the big question, do you need to pay an intern?
• #13: AC In short, yes. Times have changed and there are actually very few instances that you can get away with having an unpaid or ‘expenses only’ intern.
• #14: AC According to the HMRC a “worker” is someone that has an arrangement to do work or services personally for a reward. There doesnt have to be a contract. The reward dowsnt have to be money, it can be any benefit, expences or the promise of future work.
• #15: AC Most interns who are working are entitled to be paid at least the national minimum wage. If you’ve got set hours, tasks and responsibilities then you almost certainly count as a ‘worker’ and have a right to be paid. There are a few exemptions, for charities and people who are interning as part of their study. And there are companies that are helping young people claim back money from unpaid internships to promote social mobility. So if you have an intern you’re paying expenses and things don’t end on the best of terms, you could be getting a letter from HMRC..
• #16: AC So national minimum wage is set at £7.20ph and London Living is £9.40 LLW if you don’t know is calculated according to the basic cost of living in London and is voluntary. We find interns set at an amount inbetween LLW and NMW gets the highest responce rates and the best skills based applicants .
• #17: AC So there are some exceptions, If someone is a current student and need to undertake an internship as part of their university course.
• #18: AC doesn’t need to be paid if they are classed as a volunteer but very few startups qualify and this should not been seen as a loophole. Thes exemptions are for charities and voluntary organisations.
• #19: ACIt’s importnt to know that even if an intern says they are happy to work for free, HMRC will expect you to pay them..
• #20: AC And there are a huge list fof benefits from paying interns, you get great buy in,
• #21: AC in summary, you may be able to get someone to work for free. We know it goes on. But try and be one of the good guys!
• #22: MSSo the next question, do they need a contract and yes infact they do..
• #23: MSFortunately for you, we’ve build a free tool to get a lawyer quality contract drawn up for you in a under 5 minutes and it’s completely free. Just visit internshipcontract.com
• #24: ACOkay so you know the law and you still want one, so where do you find yourself an intern?
• #25: AC Uni’s have job boards, you can go on each of them create an account and post a job. Tend to have slow or no respoinces so youll probbaly want to do a few. Youd also have to speak to the uni careers team if you have the patience of a saint. Or you can try going directly through the Uni societies. LSE and Oxbridge have great entrepreneurial societies. They may ask you to sponsor an event or something to promote through them.
• #26: AC There are some free channels I’m sure you;ve heard of Work-in-startup and Indeed You can list a job and get sent cv’s if the right person comes along, Use your own network, get posting on facebook, twitter, ask past interns and current staff!
• #27: AC There are paid options that cater for interns or students/ grads. Such as inspiring interns and milkround. Between £300-600 for a llisting.
• #28: AC
• #29: AC
• #30: AC So to summarise, we help you hire faster, average time to hire is 12 days and we have an 80% success rate. Candidates re ranked so you’re only seeing the best matching available people and video cover letters take the guesswork out of interviews.
• #31: AC So we’re giving 20% off on all plans so HHH members. A full account costs £120 per month, no additional cost on hire. You can sign up for free and look through all matching candidates before deciding if we’re going to be a good fit.
• #32: AC we’re poor startups I hear you say.
• #33: AC Well we’ve been there too. If you cant afford to pay us but are prepaired to pay an intern, drop me an email and we’ll do what we can to help.
• #34: AC Thanks guys!