What criteria should be used to assess interns to make a reasonable hire / no-hire decision? It's important that these criteria are determined and communicated to the intern at the start of the internship so interns have a shot at a fairer evaluation.

Many interns can be shaped to be effective employees. The question is: how much effort does it take to shape them, and is it worth it?

Intern Evaluation Criteria

  • Drive
    • Focus - Keeps goals in focus without getting distracted. Communicates any distractions, gets back on track, and finds ways to avoid repeated distractions.
    • Completes Work - Gets a reasonable amount of work done. note this should be well defined at the start of the internship.
  • Learns
    • Does the intern take learning seriously and continuously drive to improve their knowledge and skill?
  • Engagement
    • Is the intern excited about the team and the work?
    • will the intern work hard?
    • self managed note does the intern have a daily task list?
  • Collaborative
    • The intern works well with others.
    • the intern explains things well to others.
    • The intern communicates daily with mentor.
  • Maturity
    • Feedback
      • Asks for feedback
      • Gives good feedback
      • Receives feedback well - on code, design docs, etc..
    • Responsible
      • Company employees are representatives of the company both inside and outside of the workplace. Actions outside of the workplace by company employees often reflect on the company.
    • Workplace appropriate behavior. note appropriate behavior is highly dependent on workplace. Interns may need help understanding workplace appropriate behavior. Generally:
      • no pirate swearing.
      • no inappropriate jokes.
      • no inappropriate comments.
      • no HR incidents.
  • Skill
    • Does the intern have the relevant technical skills and techniques? Do they have a good foundation to learn these skills quickly?
      • attention to detail
      • design / architecture
      • testing
    • Problem Solving

Mentor Evaluation

The mentor should similarly be evaluated by the intern.

  • Communication
    • How well did the mentor communicate?
    • Did the mentor provide clear actionable feedback on how to improve?
  • Preparation
    • Was the mentor reasonably prepared from the first day?
  • Support
    • Did the mentor provide a reasonable level support?
    • Did the mentor meet weekly with the intern?
    • Was the mentor generally available and open to answering questions?