Interns perform a variety of duties, which mostly depend on the field the intern wants to work in. These positions are generally reserved for college students who want to earn college credit and get experience in a specific industry.
One of the most important skills to emphasize in your intern job description is being flexible. Interns should be willing to perform anything asked of them. There is a lot for these young professionals to master, so they should possess a willingness to learn and grow.
Interns should also hopefully be pursuing a degree relevant to your company’s industry. For instance, if you operate a medical facility, interns ought to be taking classes relevant to medicine, biology or chemistry. You should adjust your intern job description according to what you need, but you can use the example below as a general outline for what to include.
Intern Job Summary
Do you want to supplement your education with actual hands-on experience in a real hospital where you will face new challenges every day? Our university hospital is looking for new student interns who actively want to help patients and assist doctors by providing the tools and other resources they need. Every day offers new, exciting challenges. Some days you might be expected to perform clerical work, while at other times you will have a chance to sit in on surgeries to see what really goes into those practices you have read about. Apply to be an intern today, and start earning school credit.
Job Responsibilities
- Interact with patients and collect essential information, including previous hospital visits, family medical history and insurance information
- Assist physicians with any required tasks, including restocking supplies, pulling up radiology images and providing patients’ contact information
- Discuss probable diagnoses with the head doctor and be prepared to explain why you believe a certain diagnosis is most possible
- Perform rounds at least once every shift to ensure all patients are comfortable and have everything they need
- Maintain a presence in every section of the hospital, including pediatrics, emergency services and physical therapy, and always see if there is something you can do
- Meet with patients regularly and speak with them, offering kind, friendly conversation to make everyone feel comfortable
- Write up reports based on your experiences at the facility and offer recommendations about what you would change about our operation’s intern program
- Be willing to work a variety of shifts, including evenings and weekends
Job Skills & Qualifications
Reqiured:
- Currently pursuing a degree in medicine, biology or a related field
- Willing to commit to the intern position for four months, with the possibility of a longer internship available
- Willing to learn and get hands-on experience
- Able to commit at least 15 hours a week to be physically present at the facility
Preferred:
- Previous healthcare experience
Intern Job Responsibilities
Few jobseekers are more enthusiastic than college students — and more likely to bombard you with applications for internships that don’t even fit their major or future career. Set well-defined boundaries and bring clarity to your applicant search by writing an informative intern job description that makes it clear exactly what you’re looking for, neatly outlines job responsibilities and narrows your search pool down to only the most qualified.
Because an internship is partially a learning role, partially a support role, writing an intern job description can be a little more tricky than composing one for a standard job. Use a bullet list to break down expectations in a cohesive fashion that covers both what you expect applicants to do and what you expect them to learn. Students seeking out internships often want roles that will teach skills aligned with their majors and provide experience that will be a good foundation in their future careers. Discuss who they’ll work with, whether it’s a particular discipline or management group. Mention if the internship is paid or unpaid, and if it offers college credit. Use action-oriented language to create a sense of engagement.
Review this example for a few ideas on how to write intern job responsibilities
- Assist project team members and management with document preparation and review
- Attend training presentations and workshops on project management and estimation
- Provide clerical support to the bid management team
- Participate in client meetings, phone calls and video conferences
- Conduct research into relevant market sectors and trends
Intern Job Specifications
For internships, employers repeatedly receive applications from overqualified candidates. When most internships apply only to students or recent graduates, it can be frustrating to receive hundreds or even thousands of applications from established professionals seeking to change careers or just fishing to see what else is available. Including a list of job specifications in your intern job description can eliminate these candidates from your applicant pool or let them know if the position is open to consider more established personnel.
The job specifications are something of a checklist and a pre-screening tool combined. They encourage candidates to self-screen by reviewing against the list to determine whether they meet the minimum mandatory requirements for the job, thus cutting down the number of unqualified or overqualified applicants. Stick with the bullet format used in the intern job description, but keep it short and sweet. Make a top five list of qualifications you just can’t do without. Check with others who’ll be working with the intern and get feedback on your list; revise it as needed until you have a hard and fast standard set.
Here’s an example of basic intern job specifications:
Currently enrolled in undergraduate or graduate degree program Committed to learning in a team environment Able to take direction from senior management Flexible and adaptable to a wide range of tasks Capable of standing for 4-5 hours at a time