Enterprise Nation

We started the week with a feature on useful sites for identifying student talent. Julie Hall of Women Unlimited turned to Gumtree.com and is pleased with the results. After a first meeting with her volunteer intern, Julie remains optimistic. 

Where did you go to find student interns?

Gumtree.com – this was recommended to me by another business owner who has had fantastic success with finding interns.

Was it an easy process to upload your advert?

Very simple – just register, pay £25, write out your spec and it gets loaded.

What kind of response did you get?

Responses came through pretty much immediately (and I advertised on Good Friday).  I advertised 2 positions, one for a writer and one for a web developer and received 25 applicants for one role and 18 applicants for the other. The quality of the candidates was very high and some were incredibly well qualified.

How long did it take from placing the advert to choosing your candidate?

Approximately 2 weeks.

You are taking them on as volunteers. Can you tell us a little about how that works?

After a discussion with the HMRC, it was clear to me that interns technically qualify for national minimum wage.  There are some exceptions to this… Self Employed people, Volunteers and approved university work experience therefore I have set out a series of tasks, which the interns can choose to complete over a period of time.  They are not contractually bound to complete those tasks and can come and go as they please.  This document gives a good outline of what constitutes a volunteer.  An individual cannot decline payment if they are working for you, even if they want to, so you may want to speak to a solicitor about the implications of taking on an unpaid intern.

How is it working out for you?

Great so far, but we have only had one meeting.  One of the interns is doing some research and we’ve talked about the type of projects that we have going on. I’m going to be doing some training with her next week on how to use our systems and she is coming along to some of our meetings to meet some of the Women Unlimited members.

What kind of work are your volunteers doing?

Mainly writing and research.  My commitment to her (her name is Alex) is that I will support her and develop her as part of this exercise.  She is very keen to learn new skills and wants to do lots of writing.

Is it okay with them coming in to your house?

So far so good, but she is mainly working from her own home and we will liaise via Skype and phone.

What are the challenges?  I would say the two biggest challenges is not being able to ask for a commitment on the basis of the work being voluntary and also the longevity of the intern as they may leave at any time to go into paid employment or take on a different project.

Based on this experience, would you recommend taking on interns to other home businesses?

Yes.  However, internship has to be for a mutual benefit and they do require support from you as a business owner; internships may have a lower financial cost, but not necessarily in time.  You have to remember that interns are looking for work experience and interesting projects, so make sure that is what you are offering – It’s important that business owners are ethical about internships and don’t exploit the people who are working  with them. 

• Julie Hall is Founder of Women Unlimited