Experiences with intern

[Tim Altom <taltom -at- IQUEST -dot- NET>]

We're about to put an intern (co-op, I suppose, is more accurate) to work
for us this summer on our marketing. This is our first foray into such a
program and while I thoroughly understand the guidelines from the
university, I'd like to probe my colleagues' memories for their suggestions.

Of course, our co-op won't be specifically doing tech doc. He/she will do
specifically marketing functions unless he/she is so fascinated with tech
doc that we have to put them on the schedule rotation. But I'm thinking that
a co-op in any area may have commonalities with others. Does anybody have
stories, cautions, or reviews to offer? How did you work with your co-op?
What worked and what didn't? What's a matter of personality and fit, and
what's an artifact of being a college kid? I've already been briefed by a
person locally who's used co-ops for years and loves 'em, although she does
caution me that they tend to have big-scale ideas because most colleges
don't teach much about small company operations. Fair enough. I expect that.

By way of background: I'm looking specifically for a marketing major with a
good phone presence. At least half of the co-op's day will be spent calling
local companies to find names and titles of prospects inside of those
companies. The remainder will be spent primarily on buckling together our
first few marketing approaches to those individuals. This will take a lot of
conferencing and give-and-take, but I want to fuse our own proven marketing
approach of the past with the fresh ideas the co-op can bring. It's exciting
as hell.

Any comments would be welcome, and if there's enough interest I'd cheerfully
digest it for the list. For now, however, I suspect you'd better respond to
me directly. Thanks in advance.

Tim Altom
Simply Written, Inc.
317.899.5882
http://www.simplywritten.com
Creators of the Clustar Method for task-based documentation