design*sponge biz ladies: Hiring Interns

Originally posted on Design*Sponge biz ladies by Grace Bonney on June 15, 2010.

today’s biz ladies article comes to us from the ladies of the boston design salon- a group of professional women who work in design related businesses and meet once a month to talk about design, business and all things in between. today six of their members will be sharing their thoughts on hiring interns and how they’ve gone about it in the past.

inspired by their ideas, i actually added a small paragraph (at the bottom, after their great advice) about my experiences hiring interns here at d*s. i’ve had some really amazing interns (some have gone on to become regular contributors here at d*s) and some not so amazing interns, so i thought i’d share some of the mistakes i’ve made (and learned from), as well as the ways i’ve tried to set up programs to help people find jobs while they’re interning at the same time (i always felt that was the least i could do if i wasn’t the position wasn’t high paying or paid at all).

Interns can be a blessing for small businesses, especially to those with a small (or non-existent) employment budget. To find out what some Biz Ladies were doing with their internship program I asked members of the Boston Design Salon.

The Design Salon is a group of professional women, (sorry boys), who work in design related businesses who meet once a month to talk about design, business and all things in between. We began in 2007 as the brainchild of Jill Rosenwald and a handful of designers. We felt that there was a need for female designers who worked in creative fields and were interested in making money to meet and get to know each other. Members have been learning from each other, sharing business tools, connections, tips, etc. We don’t collect dues, so the Salon is run by volunteers who are invested in future growth. Design Salon has grown from 6 people at the first meeting to upwards of 90 members today.