Human Resources: Z University.org Dispels Employers’ Top Five Internship Myths

Newtown, PA (PRWeb) February 15, 2007 -- Most managers carry general misconceptions about internship programs, but, by applying thoughtful planning and the right tools, they can realize their full potential. Z University.org (ZU), a leading advocate of workforce readiness and innovator of internship management solutions, has identified a “top five” list of myths that organizations need to get the greatest returns from an internship program.

Zinman says that the “Top Five Myths About Internships” are fueled by managers who believe that:

1) They don’t have the time to have interns. “ZU’s mission is to prove why you actually don’t have the time NOT to have interns,” says Zinman. A five-year study by ZU on student productivity demonstrates that a single supervisor can gain up to 225 full work days of productivity in a calendar year simply by managing interns instead of completing work tasks themselves.
2) Having interns is too much work for too little in return. Properly managed internship programs reap significant productivity benefits by freeing high-level employees from time-consuming tasks.
3) Finding good interns is a crapshoot: By applying the proper recruitment techniques, managers will learn how easy it is to attract the right individuals.
4) Internship programs are only for larger companies. “This couldn’t be further from the truth,” notes Zinman, “ZU has removed the barriers so that a company of one can do it.”
5) They can’t have interns without office space with phones and computers: Again, not true, Zinman maintains. “The Intern Toolkit shows how to manage interns virtually instead of doing so on-site.”

These myths are addressed in ZU’s Intern Toolkit™, a comprehensive resource that makes it easy for employers and non-profit organizations to run an internship program in a way that increases productivity and improves the student internship experience and career development.

Available at www.InternToolkit.com, the toolkit removes the barriers to create a successful intern program. It’s designed for employers of varying size, industry and complexity, and for those with and without existing internship programs.

Among the Toolkit’s benefits:

- It gives employers the structure to become more immune to common challenges like employee turnover, novice managers, and prevent students from being underutilized and underdeveloped.
- It focuses on productivity, profit and converting students into loyal employees
- More than half of its 60 tools are adaptable templates that save time, labor, and money
- It has self-guides for interns to complete work with minimal supervision and training materials to make students more competent and valuable
- Users gain online access to Z University’s Online Internship Knowledge Center, and utilize an ever-expanding collection of internship-related resources.

"With all due respect to the organizations with world class programs, most employers either don’t know what they’re doing, don’t have the tools to do it right, or – in most cases - simply don’t realize what they’re missing,” states Matthew Zinman, president of Z University.org. “We’ve developed the solutions to make it possible for any company of any size or type to put college students to work in all the right ways, and prepare these emerging professionals for long-term career success.”

About Z University.org
Z University.org (ZU) is making internship programs a powerful remedy to close the gap between classroom learning and workplace competency. In addition to its many initiatives to educate, collaborate and advocate, ZU’s primary focus is to innovate solutions that, in effect, remove the barriers for students to gain valuable experience and for employers to gain valuable productivity and better future employees.

Z University developed Intern Toolkit (available online at www.InternToolkit.com) to make it more feasible for employers to create, manage and improve internship programs and all forms of experiential learning. It’s by far the most complete resource to convert student talent and skills into profit for employers and provide vital practical experience and career training for students to succeed as they enter the workforce. ZU is developing more innovative products and resources to fulfill its mission, including a new internship management instructional video based on its “Blueprint for Internship Success” program methodology, which is due for release in late February 2007

Z University.org also established The Internship Institute as a non-profit affiliate to champion positive change in every way possible. The Institute’s leadership advocacy supports initiatives to promote need to make internships mandatory, to treat and compensate interns fairly, and to encourage employers to assume their inherent social responsibility and motivation to put students to work.

The Internship Institute also aims to pursue opportunities that advance experiential education, create scholarship programs for non-paid interns, formalize its intern mentoring curriculum, perform meaningful market research, provide subsidies to other non-profit organizations, and inspire action among employers, students, and academic professionals to improve workforce readiness.

Media Contact
Matthew Zinman, President and Founder
email: NewsInquiry(at)ZUniversity.org, or call 1-877-ZU2GROW (1-877-982-4769)

Press Contact: Matthew Zinman
Company Name: Z University
Email: email protected from spam bots
Phone: 877-982-4769
Website: http://www.ZUniversity.org

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