Internship Timeline 

• Lining up your internship manager and mentors, ideally, should happen at the beginning of your planning process so they can be fully invested partners in recruitment, planning, and identifying project opportunities.

• Recruitment for internships should begin eight to nine months in advance of the start date. 

• Allotting time for staff to develop a thorough orientation and training plan to be implemented when the interns begin work, is critical so interns will learn quickly and become productive members of your team. 

• Think through the needs of your store, department, etc.

• Get the position posted and actively start recruiting (utilize the job posting template in iCIMS or in this guide).

• Review applications and begin interview process. 

• Narrow down candidate pool.

• Identify Selected Candidates.

• Rotations Selected. 

• Extend offers.

• Once intern is selected, managers should contact the intern to welcome them.

• Managers and Intern team should have regular check-ins with the intern to keep them engaged.

• Plan and solidify details:

  • Kickoff meeting for all departments hosting an intern and a member of the internship committee.

  • Managers sharing an intern for rotations will meet in pairs to brainstorm overlapping business needs that can be addressed by the intern's assignments/projects and put together a clear workplan.

  • Managers should meet virtually with their intern to identify their goals of the program and review the prepared workplan. 

  • Rotations collaborate to create final assignments/projects that share an overarching goal applicable to both units of business.

  • Final assignments/projects are fully established by the last week in April (with room for adjustments as needed).

  • Onboarding plan (logistics):

    • Departments prepare for intern arrival by ensuring all necessary tools and resources are provided for the intern.

  • Internal communication/awareness.

• Onboarding.

• Collaborate with the intern to confirm their learning goals.

• Ensure they have time allotted to attend the scheduled education and networking events.

• Regularly evaluate the intern’s performance and the success of the program.

• Regular check-ins each week.

• Approving timecards in ADP (SST & Company Stores).

• Debrief Meeting w/ Internship team.

• Ongoing evaluation of your internship program will allow you to improve it.  

Franchisees - The content on this document is for education and informational purposes only. Should a franchisee decide to act upon any information on this document, they do so at their own risk. Fleet Feet recommends all franchisees consult with an employment attorney when creating/modifying policies, pay practices or other items related to employment.