Student Preparedness for Human Resource and Organizational Development/Consulting Internships

Abstract

Internships are important experiences for students who aspire to careers in management consulting, organizational development or human resource management. Understanding the requisite competencies for effective intern performance, and assessing intern preparedness around these key competencies is important to inform intern training in human resource (HR) management and organizational development/management consulting (ODMC) programs. We examined the relative importance of five competencies to ratings of intern overall effectiveness, and also explored whether importance ascribed to particular competencies varied as a function of whether the internship context primarily involved HR or ODMC work. In addition, we examined supervisor and self-perceptions of intern work preparedness in the five competency areas. This mixed-methods study analyzed archival data from 220 graduate student internships in the fields of HRM and ODMC that took place through 2001-2010. Data included supervisor performance appraisals of interns, as well as intern self-appraisals and reflected internship reports. The relative importance of competency ratings differed by work context. Specifically, supervisor ratings of intern business knowledge were more strongly related to overall effectiveness ratings in HR than in ODMC internships; whereas collaboration competencies better predicted effective performance for ODMC interns than for HR interns. Regardless of work context, supervisors reported a deficit in communication skills for many of the interns; however, interns tended to be unaware of their development needs around effective communication. Implications regarding how management educators can address important skills gaps and best match individual intern competencies to those most valued in HR and ODMC internships are discussed.