Internship: A Recruitment and Selection Perspective

In this study, we examined internship as a recruitment and selection process. On the basis of impression management theory, we hypothesized that both organizations and interns make efforts to impress the other party during the internship if they intend to hire or be hired. Using longitudinal data collected at 3 points from 122 intern supervisor dyads in the United States, we found that 60% of internships turned into job offers from the host organizations. Interns wishing to be hired were more likely to use self-promotion and ingratiation, which increased the likelihood of job offers. Organizations wishing to hire appeared to be more open to interns' creativity, which increased interns' application intentions. For interns who indicated prior to their internship that they were not interested in working in their host organizations after graduation, supervisory mentoring did not influence their subsequent intentions to apply for full-time employment.