Surprised by Intern Outreach

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by a searcher
in Oakland, CA, USA

3mos ago

Surprised by Intern Outreach

Since starting my search, one of the most surprising things has been the number of students (both grad and undergrad) reaching out about internship opportunities. While I’m flattered by the interest, I hadn’t planned to bring on interns and I’m still trying to figure out whether it actually adds leverage or just complexity -- not to mention the additional expense. For those of you running self-funded searches, I’m curious: - Have you worked with interns during your search? - What kind of workstreams did they actually help with (deal sourcing, industry research, CIM screening, outreach, etc)? - How did you structure it so it was helpful without creating too much overhead?

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reply by a searcher 1mo ago
from Pepperdine University in Baton Rouge, LA, USA

I have 3 right now and approach it from a mentoring/giving perspective. That said, it energizes me and now, with AI - they can do a lot more than they used to. I have them do everything and fail along the way....just like I did. As far as how they best contribute, it is either some form of analysis/research or outreach. I tie what work they do to their personal motives and give an unstructured/remote format for maximum flexibility.

reply by a searcher 1mo ago
from University of Pennsylvania in Jersey City, NJ, USA

I have run annual summer intern programs in prior lives, and I'd say that the biggest thing to consider is how long they will be productive. Typically I estimate that it takes about a 6 weeks to train an intern (correspondence etiquette, using software like CRMs, my Google Docs, etc) especially if their tasks less modular or defined. If they have to go back to school after 8-10 weeks, it can be hard to get an ROI on the time invested. Three caveats: 1) I've heard of searchers with a part-time MBA "lead" intern for 6+ months whose job it can be to recruit and train undergrad interns. I think that could potentially tip the scales because you can train the trainer. 2) If you are in a fund or rollup setting with evergreen or repeatable processes, it can be helpful to getting ROI since they can plug into something that is already a process. 3) I did all my programs prior to AI so perhaps things are different now.