It takes talent to find the right talents for a position you want to fill. Do you have a position for which you need to hire interns? The first thing you need to do, obviously, is to sit with your team and discuss the game plan. What kind of interns are you looking for? How many are you looking to hire? What are the non-negotiable requirements or skills wanted? Are there any preferred majors? How much, if anything, are you willing to pay? Who will be supervising the interns, and who will the interns be reporting to?

Once all these details are set, you’re ready to create a job posting.

There are many websites that allow you to post jobs for free, such as our own. An online job posting is a great way to reach many talents across different networks. Below are key points to remember when creating your internship job posting.

Job Titles should be simple and to the point, but also specific and unique.

Imagine that a student is browsing through a job board. He’s a marketing major, and so he narrows his search to “marketing” internships. And guess what he sees? Tens of pages of job postings with the same exact title – “Marketing Internship.”

If your job posting falls within that category, your company is just one grain in the sand; you are literally competing with hundreds of other companies hiring for the same position. If, however, you were to make your Job Title unique and maybe even witty (while still tagging “Marketing Internship” or checking “Marketing” as the category/major), you would definitely still show up on the search but will now stand out from the rest.

Pro Tip: If you’re looking for specific skills, be sure to include KEYWORDS in your Job Title! For example, if you’re looking for an intern whose primary job will be to help grow your Pinterest account and following, why not make the Job Title “Pinterest Specialist” or “Pinterest Guru”? If you’re looking for an intern who can create captivating visuals to assist your marketing and sales team, maybe you should include the keywords “Creative,” “Design,” and “Photoshop.”

By clarifying the essential skills you’re looking for in the Job Title, you’re ruling out, right off the bat, the unqualified applicants who might have otherwise applied. This will save you (and the applicants) a lot of time.

Job Description should be short and sweet, accurate but compelling.

For the same reason explained above, you should include the industry your company is in (at the top, if possible), so that interested students know to keep reading, while uninterested students can move on to a posting better suited for them.

In your Job Description (which should be concise; one paragraph is ideal), you should do the following:

• Spell out the reasons one should apply to the internship position – what’s in it for the applicant/candidate? It’s important to remember that with job postings, you’re the one who’s trying to appeal to the candidates (the leverage will shift once they apply).
  • Pro Tip: Focus on the company culture and the work environment. Tell them why it’s great to work for your company!
• Include a (bulleted) list of responsibilities and skills (and again, use keywords!).
  • Pro Tip: Include soft skills and personality traits, and not just hard skills. While hard skills are teachable abilities, soft skills and personality traits are usually fixed – you want to hire the right people first; training comes next. You also want to lay out your expectations from the get-go. For example, if punctuality is important to you and your company, make sure to include that in the list!
  • Also list any requirements (minimum hours, major, etc.).
• Make sure to indicate whether the position is paid or not! This is extremely important to college students. College students are already juggling multiple responsibilities, and they want to know exactly what they’re getting themselves into. Of course, everyone wants to be paid for their work, but if your company cannot pay, make sure to provide college credits or offer other perks and benefits (and state them clearly in the job description). Not having information about compensation or benefits is a serious mistake that surprisingly, a lot of employers still make. 

In general, you should avoid generic terminology, as applicants are often reading hundreds of job posts, many of which are long and repetitive. Make your post stand out by giving concise descriptions and showcasing your brand personality!

Pro Tip: Postings with an embedded video receive more views and higher application submission rate. The appearance of a job posting also affects the candidates’ choice to apply, so include graphics if possible!

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