Avoiding an HR
Catastrophe in
2011
By John Culbertson, SIOR
There is a lot of pressure that goes into running a small business. When hiring, businesses place so much trust and commitment in the interview process, and sometimes, hires just
don’t turn out as initially expected.
Prior to starting Cardinal Real Estate Partners, the one
thing I feared the most was the hiring process. I went
through my share of trials and errors, and then one day I
had an idea…if only there was a way to “test drive” future
employees…WAIT…Interns! However, everyone has had
a bad internship experience, either being one or managing
one. If the internship is the best way to truly test a potential employee, then I need to make sure I am testing the
intern properly.
This is my experience and the process I now use to effectively manage interns, expectations, and make the experience equally rewarding for both them and myself. This also
allows me to get an idea of the value someone would bring
to my company before formally committing long-term and
in the meantime, I get some projects completed that I had
been procrastinating on.
Trial and Error
Before striking out on my own, I worked for one of the
world’s largest real estate development companies. As big
as it was, the company had no formal process for hiring and
training interns. It was a great company and naturally, I had
people calling me every week inquiring about an intern-
ship or a job, but typically the interns that ended up being
assigned to me were younger relatives of big clients and so
forth that ended up being a huge burden. I didn’t know what
to have them do and was afraid they would report having a
bad experience back to the client, so this ended up causing
more stress than assistance for either party.
A Little Preparation = A Great Internship Experience
Before I even begin looking for an intern I first sit down with
my team and come up with a list of ten things that we could
have the intern do. All the items on this list have a limited
scope, are not incredibly technical, and can be completed in
three months.
How I Find the Perfect Intern
I first establish a relationship with a director in a local university’s master’s program and then start reaching out to the
director whenever I am looking to take on an intern or have
questions. So far this has been a great experience for us, plus
we have created a positive image for the company through
this relationship with the phenomenal university. Local university’s MBA programs are a great place to start looking or
to ask for advice, just contact the director of the program in
your field and establish a friendly relationship.
