Employer Resources and Guides

Suggested resources and advice from our team.

Best Practices for Working with Entry-Level Talent

Working with interns is different than working with the other team members - interns generally work part-time, are early in their careers, and need to gain the prior professional experience that many of your full-time team members do. However, if you correctly manage your entry-level talent, they can still provide value from day one and grow into exceptional full-time employees.

We've put together this three-step guide to help you get the most out of your Folio Interns and ensure your working time runs smoothly.

Step 1: Create a right-sized project

While ambiguous projects are native to startup land, it is important to present your intern's project in a digestible and approachable way. For example, if you're hoping your intern can help you create a GTM Strategy for a new product you're working on, a good project brief would look something like:

DELIVERABLE: GTM Strategy for XX New Product

Task 1: Do Market Research and learn who would benefit from our new project.

Create an Ideal Customer Profile for our new product. Think about who they are, what they do, where they might live, why they would benefit from the product, and where they spend most of their time.

Task 2: Based on your ICP, think about Pricing + Marketing Strategy

Task 3: Test your GTM Strategy.

We recommend you check in with your interns during and after they complete each task to ensure their work aligns with the outline you've given them.

Step 2: Clearly Define Expectations

Do you want your intern to join your weekly stand-up meetings? Do you expect them to take the initiative in scheduling meetings? Do you want them to update you when they come online/go offline for the day?

Please clearly define those expectations at the beginning of your work with them. We recommend including your expectations as part of your onboarding materials.

Step 3: Provide Constructive Feedback

This step is the most important. Your interns might not get it right every time—maybe they miss a deadline or misunderstand a project briefing. It's important to provide your feedback in a helpful and actionable way. Use our template below to craft an email or Slack message, or refer to it when giving feedback in meetings with them!

1. Clearly define the original task. Include anticipated timeline, expectations, and refer to any outlines you provided.

2. Clearly explain why you are not satisfied with the outcome. Then, explain the aspects that are missing that would make it satisfactory.

3. Agree together on the intern's action items and a new timeline. Please add a few other references for the project. Update this information in the Intern's Project Outline.

Altogether, these steps might sound like this:

"On Wednesday of last week, I tasked you with building a GTM Strategy for our new product. We both agreed to a deadline of today, and agreed that you would refer to our Project Plan as an outline for your Strategy. The Strategy you presented to me needs is not quite ready because it lacks Task 3 of our GTM Strategy Project Plan. To complete the Project to our standards, you must add Task 3 to your GTM Strategy. I'm sending you examples of a good GTM Strategy, including a strong example of Task 3. Do you think you can complete this by Friday?"

When providing feedback to your interns, do NOT:

1. Question their Credentials: This is not a constructive way to communicate dissatisfaction with your intern's work product.

2. Get Emotional: This, like any other feedback you provide to your employees, is a professional endeavor. Your feedback should be fact-based, not opinion or emotion-based.

Continuing Support

Folio is committed to ensuring that you have the best possible experience with your intern. Please refer to the chart below, for information on who to reach out to when questions arise.

Reach out for support!

Feel free to email us at [e-mail].