For many choruses, staff capacity is one of our biggest challenges. Too much work, not enough people. Hiring an intern could be a great way to help address this, but it can also be fraught. Here are some things to consider if you’re hiring your first intern… or even your twenty-first!
1. Is this really an “internship,” or do you just need someone to show up and do some grunt work?
Calling it an internship implies that there will be a meaningful amount of educational value to the experience. Decide if you have the capacity to deliver that, because simply stuffing envelopes and filing music eight hours a day is not an internship. For my company, I decided to call this year’s student worker an “Arts Admin Assistant” instead of an “Intern.” I still plan to provide training and mentorship, but I want to convey that this is a job like any other job (although part-time and temporary), and we are counting on them to be responsible for staff functions during their time with us.
2. Can I pay this person?
Nonprofits are not always required to pay interns, particularly if the student is getting academic credit. But the bar is pretty high for unpaid internships. Research the criteria laid out by the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act to make sure you aren’t calling something an internship that is really just a job. (Google “Primary Beneficiary Test for interns.”) If you don’t clearly meet the criteria for an unpaid internship, you need to pay them.
Also, unpaid internships are problematic from an equity point of view. Generally, only the most privileged people in our country can afford to work for free, so consider the ramifications of excluding those who can’t. Find out what minimum wage is in your state and city (some places have a lower minimum wage for student or youth workers) and think about how many hours your budget could afford. Don’t forget about payroll taxes, because even if the job is called “Internship,” if you’re paying wages, the person will need to be treated as an employee for tax purposes.
Okay, you’re ready to find an intern!
Write up a job description and posting for your internship. These documents can be similar, but the job posting can be punchier, without all the details of the full description. Still, you’ll want to list the types of activities involved, and very clearly articulate the expectations about pay, number of hours, work schedule (including concerts and events), and work locations.
Send the posting to colleges and universities near you, prioritizing those with programs in arts management and music/performing arts. Include it in a mass email to your patrons and on your website, and don’t forget to share it with all of your singers, board members, and volunteers. Online portals such as Handshake can also be helpful, and you may have arts service organizations in your area that also post job opportunities.
As the applicants come in, take a moment to quickly evaluate them right away. I do a quick sort into three categories (yes/no/maybe) based on basic qualifications and overall quality of the submission. After a week or two has passed, or whenever you’ve got a fair amount of “yes” submissions, schedule the interviews. Video calls can work well, especially when you’re hiring for a temporary position, although nothing beats an in-person interview if you have the time.
Try to do the interviews all within one week and take notes. I generally cap it at 5- 6 interviews tops, even as more submissions continue to arrive. There just isn’t time to consider everyone, so don’t expand beyond the initial “yes” pool unless they all bomb.
Basic interview questions can be useful, especially letting the candidates tell you about themselves, what they’re interested in, and why they’re applying. But probe more intently about the issues most important to you. For me, it’s reliability. I ask “What would you do if another amazing job offer came your way? Or if a school event, out of your control, conflicted with your work schedule?” The way they think about these scenarios can be useful and can give you insight into their maturity and communication skills. I’m also very specific about hours and work schedule expectations, and I ask about that in different ways. (“Does your work availability include commuting time? How long would your commute be? Can you think of some things that might come up that would potentially change your availability?”) Candidates get the idea that this is a major priority right from the start. Recently, a candidate called me back a few days after the interview to tell me that sometimes the train is a bit slow, and asked, “what happens if I’m five minutes late?” In reality, we’re pretty relaxed about situations like that, but the question demonstrated exactly the level of seriousness I’m hoping for.
As the interview goes along, if it becomes clear that someone is not fitting the bill, don’t feel obligated to carry through with every question. You’re trying to get a sense of who you want to work with, and how they would be as an employee, and sometimes you can get that quickly in a casual conversation. Your first impressions are important, so trust your instinct. If someone has a great resume and seems like the perfect candidate on paper, but isn’t personable, they may not be a fit.
Again, think about what’s most important. No candidate is likely to have much (if any) experience, so you want someone you can rely on, who has some maturity, who is friendly and easy to work with, and who seems invested and energetic enough to follow through on the job. If they’re clearly just looking for a part time gig, they might find another one that pays better a month later. But if they’re interested in music or arts administration and they seem genuinely motivated to be a part of your chorus, you may have a winner.
When you’ve made your choice, write a formal offer letter that re-states all the basics, including pay, schedule, start and end dates, and any other basic expectations. Ask the candidate to sign and return it within a day or two if they accept the position.
On their first day (or first few days), it will be about basic orientation, including covering any company-wide employment policies. If you don’t have a formal orientation procedure in place, at least sketch out a list in advance, so that you cover all the basics and give them a good general understanding of the company and how things work. After that, you may want to jump right into training for some of the tasks and projects they will be doing during their internship. However, your own work schedule won’t slow down, so you may not have time to spend training them on everything right away. It’s a good idea to have at least a few lower-level projects (filing, organizing, database cleanup, online research, etc.) that can be quickly trained on, so there’s always something they can fall back on when you’re busy or not assigning new tasks.
During the internship, open and regular communication is essential. You’ll want daily check-ins to hear about their progress, answer their questions, and re-prioritize and re-assign tasks on an ongoing basis. Assume you’ll prioritize their work for them throughout the internship since they won’t be integrated enough to understand what should come first. Of course, be open and encourage questions. When possible, share what you’re working on to give them broader context. Involve them in staff meetings. Halfway through the internship, schedule a more formal check-in meeting, to express any overall goals or corrections you’d like to make, and learn about how they are feeling. There might be an aspect of the organization they’d like exposure to: maybe attending auditions, a rehearsal, or even a board meeting. These are all nice add-ons, assuming it wouldn’t be too disruptive.
This all sounds like a lot of work, right? It is. But if done well, an internship can be tremendously valuable and enriching – for the intern, and for your chorus.
What’s your intern success story? Any best practices you can share? Share in the comments below!