National Intern Day 2024: Find Date, History, And Ideas To Celebrate This Important Day
Interns invest a lot of time and effort into working for a company, often unpaid, in order to gain experience and fulfill degree requirements. That is why National Intern Day exists! National Intern Day is a day where interns are honored for their efforts and accomplishments. Read on to find out more about its history and how you can celebrate it.
It is true that some corporations (like Google) provide excellent internship opportunities. They are aware that interns are an important part of their human resources. They understand that interns are the true rising stars who can propel the company ahead. But again in most companies, employers are desperate for free work from interns, with micromanagement and criticism, underestimating their importance in the workplace
It's long past time for all organizations, to acknowledge and recognize their interns' efforts.
The History Of National Intern Day
National Intern Day was created by WayUp back in 2017 to celebrate the future leaders of the world: interns! The day is dedicated to recognizing the challenges and inequalities that entry-level candidates, i.e., interns, face in the workforce.
WayUp also hosts an event specially meant for National Intern Day where you can easily nominate interns who have remarkable talents, deliver excellent performance, and have a professional attitude through this event. Thousands of businesses from America get together to celebrate this day every year. They also submit their internship programs and interns for consideration for WayUp's famous Top 100 Internship Programs List and WayUp Intern 100 List.
"Internships are a critical step on the path to landing a job after graduation, and launching a successful career," stated Liz Wessel, CEO, and co-founder of WayUp. "Despite the stereotypes, internships are not about fetching coffee and making copies. Interns are vital contributors to the organizations that they work for, so we wanted to create a single day that puts them in the spotlight."
When Is National Intern Day Celebrated?
National Intern Day is always celebrated on the last Thursday in July. This year, the event will be celebrated on July 28th, which is around the corner. So, if you haven't yet, now's the perfect time to start planning for the celebration! To help you, we've compiled a list of activities and ideas that will help you host an amazing fun-filled celebration for your interns and show your appreciation for all of their hard work.
How To Celebrate National Intern Day?
1. Say "Thank You"
A small thank you can make a big difference! And National Intern Day is a terrific opportunity to get creative and thank your interns while also showing them that you care.
To start with, team leaders can have their coworkers make cards or a message board to express their gratitude for everything the interns do for them.
Again, thanks to the internet, you can now appreciate your individual interns or the group as a whole on your website or social media channels.
A simple tweet thanking all of your interns is a thoughtful sign of recognition. You can also list their accomplishments, fascinating facts about them, and "thank you messages" from coworkers and publish them on your official social media pages like LinkedIn.
Make sure to use the hashtag #NationalInternDay2023 on the posts that you create this year.
2. Spread fun and positivity with team building activities
Team-building activities go great with events such as National Intern Day.
You can have an office sports day, and organize cozy coffee meetings or cocktail parties to bring the team together.
You must introduce your interns to employees from other departments or managers to understand the different job roles and ask any questions they may have.
You can also host themed Zoom calls or host virtual trivia competitions using apps for your remote teams.
3. Held an Award Ceremony
Celebrating National Intern Day is definitely a good idea. But what if the organization doesn't have money set aside for such things?
Contrary to popular belief, your celebration does not have to be costly or extravagant in order to be meaningful.
Depending on your budget, having an award ceremony can be a great way to commemorate this day. It can also help you determine which interns can be hired as permanent workers.
4. Provide free mentorship
For many newcomers, it isn't easy to find economic opportunities to learn useful skills and career lessons. If your interns have already demonstrated promise, you can further hone their abilities by providing them with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be mentored by a leader.
Give them the gift of knowledge by setting up a mentorship session with an industry expert or even someone with seniority in your organization
Taking this opportunity can be quite helpful to the company as well because you'll be able to add some new well-groomed members to your existing team.
5. Talk to your interns
Apart from throwing parties and other surprises for your interns, it would be nice to ask them what they wanted from their internship experiences.
They might want to do some other work, get feedback, and learn new things under your mentorship.
Interns may not speak out if they feel overlooked because they are newcomers. So it's up to you to make sure everything is in order.
Therefore, regardless of National Intern Day, you should check in with your intern regularly and have a more informal sit-down meeting with them around once a week. It will help the whole team stay updated about upcoming projects and ensure clear direction on current ones.
It may seem like an additional time commitment. Still, it's critical to make your intern feel like a valued member of the team and keep them on track with their objectives.
6. Make them aware of health and wellness
Organizing some health and wellness activities for your interns, such as meditation or a yoga session, is a fantastic approach to help your interns relax and de-stress. To encourage them to live healthier lifestyles, you can host fitness contests and challenges.
These contests can also be conducted remotely if necessary and are an excellent method to lower healthcare costs and minimize employee stress.
7. If you wish to spend a little more
Like you might want to buy everything your intern would need to make their online portfolio.
You can offer to analyze their resume or get them started on LinkedIn if you don't have a good budget otherwise. You might even purchase their tickets to an industry conference and connect them with people in your network who can help them.
Because many young people need to work while also attending their academic classes, they want flexible work environments. If you can afford it, allow them to work remotely or with flexible timings. You will find that doing so results in better efficiency and goes a long way.
Conclusion
I hope these ideas help you think of new ways to celebrate your interns this year.
Happy National Intern Day from all of us at Vantage Circle!
This article is written by Susmita Sarma, a digital marketer at Vantage Circle. She was involved with media relations before shifting her interest in research and creative writing. Apart from being a classical music buff, she keeps a keen interest in anchoring and cooking. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com
