Could your business or office benefit from an extra pair of hands? Consider hiring an intern. In fact, having an intern can be a great learning experience for everyone at work. Hiring interns come with a host of benefits. Here are a few mindful work tips.

Benefits of Having an Intern

They’re diligent workers who will showcase their talents for little to no money. Their energy and enthusiasm will boost office productivity. They also have great potential in becoming hardworking full-time employees.

In fact, 58.6 percent of interns become full-time employees within the same company. And these interns-turned-employees are more likely to stay with the company. According to a survey, “almost 40 percent of employers reported a higher retention rate among employees they’d hired via their internship program.”

Mindful Tips for Hiring Interns

So, if you are thinking about hiring an intern, consider the Mindful Work tips listed below.

1. Know where to look. To find some of the most sought-after interns, consider career fairs and on-campus recruiting. Or try recruiting interns through online networking or by “cultivating contacts with key university faculty.”
2. Hire more than one. One intern can be great, but a whole team of interns may be best for the office. You’ll get lots of extra help and the interns will benefit too. In fact, experts say that hiring more than one intern will help the young apprentices better adjust to office as they will have peers of their own age.
3. To pay or not to pay? Though there are paid internships out there, not every business (especially startups) can afford to pay their interns and that’s okay. The experience they get from the job is literally priceless and interns will be grateful for the networking opportunities, references, and potential college credit. However, note that unpaid interns may be a little less motivated than paid ones.
4. Help interns adjust to your office. Your new interns will probably be like fish out of water, so help them adjust to working in an office. Make sure they understand the importance of office rules and etiquette from dress code to break room courtesy.
5. Make them feel welcomed. Don’t just hire an intern to fetch coffee, run errands, and do other unwanted tasks around the office. Help train them to become efficient employees by letting them be a part of the team. Consider giving them meaningful projects and tasks. Try to mentor them. And give them feedback on their work as well.

Bonus. Before you start your internship programs, be sure that you’re familiar with the law. Review the facts from the Department of Labor about paid versus unpaid labor. You can find more information here.