Running an internship programme
An internship gives a prospective writer supervised practical experience while helping an employer develop a talent pipeline. Running one involves defined objectives, recruitment, suitable work, training, feedback and a considered transition at the end.
Purpose and programme design
Interns can contribute to project work, ease permanent staff workloads and give colleagues their first line-management experience. An employer can assess performance before offering a permanent post, and hiring interns can take considerably less time than hiring experienced staff. A defined learning programme can accelerate development compared with immediately immersing external entry-level hires in project work; tailored programmes and incentives can support motivation, engagement and retention. As interns take on straightforward writing, senior writers gain capacity for complex work.
A programme should define its objectives, organisational benefits and intended outcomes, with an employer commitment to a meaningful experience for interns. A medical-communications agency's 2016 programme used six considerations.
- Establish clear, individual objectives.
- Target the right candidates through the advertisement's content and distribution.
- Assign a manager to guide and support the intern throughout.
- Provide thorough induction and further project-specific training.
- Plan varied projects with flexibility for additional project support.
- Listen to intern feedback to improve future placements.
The agency had hosted 54 interns over five years, with 23% becoming permanent employees, 29% pursuing further study and 48% entering other employment. Its usual three-month placement combined two weeks of induction with about ten weeks of projects, with extensions up to six months subject to internal review. Interns were normally based in one division but could gain experience in medical writing, evidence development, medical affairs and market access.
Internships can also help a small agency balance experienced associates with an in-house team and offer a foothold to qualified people who cannot secure work without experience. A disability-owned consultancy's pilot, discussed in 2023, aimed to widen entry routes and would be refined using its first intern's feedback; the team found participation energising.
Recruitment, access and expectations
An advertisement should explain tasks, responsibilities, hands-on experience, possible permanent opportunities, selection criteria, duration, start dates, hours and salary. Universities' careers services, recruitment sites, professional internship forums, networking events, university events and company open days can help reach candidates. Employers should verify candidates' right to work before offering a placement and explain what assistance is available for visas or work permits.
Recruitment advice differs in its emphasis. One programme's approach was to use a process as rigorous as permanent hiring, including interviews, competency tests and behavioural interviewing, supported by a job description specifying academic qualifications, duties and expectations. A short-placement approach considered multiple assessment or interview rounds unlikely to be needed, using a short writing test or assessment day and formal interview instead. Interviewers should allow for candidates' limited industry experience and less-developed answers about client management or commercial awareness.
In one small agency's 2017 experience, advertising one apprenticeship-based internship at a professional forum attracted 38 interested people with varied backgrounds and preferences, from full-time paid employment to periodic distance learning around other commitments. The agency recruited one intern and offered some others supported practice pieces from home, although providing that feedback was time-consuming.
A small regulatory consultancy's 2021 pilot considered scope, geography, application logistics and eligible scientific backgrounds before recruiting. It included writing and potential IT or business-operations roles, anchored recruitment near its Massachusetts headquarters, and used a partner's candidate database because its administrative resources were limited. The database was manageable but finite and not tailored to the consultancy's services; searching broadly across scientific disciplines avoided restricting applicants to those already familiar with medical writing. The partner's programme then offered sponsorship up to $8,160 per intern, at $17 an hour for up to twelve weeks, for two local college or university students and two additional students from associate-degree programmes or historically Black colleges and universities. As a woman-owned and disability-owned business, the consultancy chose a partner consistent with its aim of representing the people who receive the medicines it works on. Comparable partners may be harder to find in areas with less biomedical infrastructure.
The consultancy appointed a junior employee as coordinator because the employee could relate to entering the field and had time for questions and hands-on guidance. Six candidates were identified for each role. None of the writing candidates and two of the IT candidates came from associate-degree programmes. One writing applicant accepted, while none of four IT candidates contacted pursued the opportunity. The single intern, a regulatory-affairs master's student interested in regulatory writing, was hired for forty hours a week over twelve weeks with sponsored pay.
Hours and commitments should be discussed frankly before hiring and recorded in a job description. The pilot accommodated the intern's other job and capstone project, requiring her to communicate availability and the company to work around it. Full-time placements without a living wage or benefits may require outside employment; prohibiting it or expecting unpaid work restricts participation to people with other financial support.
Remote placements may improve access for people without reliable transport or a local biotechnology industry, but employers need to arrange team contact deliberately and may need to supply laptops and access tools.
Supervision, training and suitable work
Interns should be treated as supernumerary learners as well as contributors, with clear instructions, progress checks and careful supervision of client documents. Supervisors should avoid assuming which tasks will be easy: a small agency found apparently simple meeting reports could need more support than complex fact-checking or original work. HR advice on terms and conditions and regular review meetings should be arranged early. Highly developed communication skills remain necessary, and working in a non-native language can challenge both intern and employer.
University recruits need structured orientation to corporate working, clinical research, medical writing and organisational culture; exercises, shadowing and periodic assessment help measure progress and tailor objectives. Training should also connect interns from different backgrounds into a cohesive group.
In the 2016 agency programme, a senior writer or analyst acted as line manager and mentor, meeting the intern on day one and weekly thereafter; periodic meetings with a programme co-director reviewed progress and new objectives. Its two-week induction introduced the company's ethos, work and divisions, followed by detailed project training. Projects were planned before arrival to combine variety, individual interests and skills with current workload, while leaving room for additional assignments. Weekly time allocations across project teams helped prevent overload, and the intern's manager notified project managers when priorities changed.
The 2021 consultancy pilot agreed five success factors.
- Exposure to peer review and feedback.
- CV review and advice for future opportunities.
- Practice summarising medical content, such as regulatory guidance.
- Public-speaking practice, such as discussing an attended webinar.
- Guidance on everyday office work and communication.
Its orientation covered these factors, company values, structure and expectations; a team channel queued suitable projects, and a company-wide introduction helped colleagues connect with the intern. Meetings and shadowing across departments provided exposure to different business functions. Assignments included a company style guide, supervised health-related social-media posts, business-operations meetings, writing tools, reference-management software, good clinical practice and company-procedure training. With advance client permission and a nondisclosure agreement, the intern observed live collaborative authoring and comment-resolution meetings, then discussed professional communication and conflict resolution with the coordinator.
A mix of group work and independent tasks, with more potential tasks than seem necessary, keeps an intern occupied when the coordinator is unavailable. Low-pressure tasks can build skills: the pilot used health posts rewritten for graduate peers, high-school students and children, with reading levels adjusted for each, and practice with citation software. A cohort can provide more opportunities for group work and peer learning than a single placement.
Self-guided resources can include existing software tutorials and professional-association training modules, regulatory guidance, redacted completed examples and a reference library; interns can also search for useful resources. Development need not be confined to writing: time management, remote work, professional communication, business etiquette, conflict role-play and emotional-intelligence training can prepare interns for later careers.
Feedback and the end of a placement
Project managers should give regular feedback on performance and attitude, recognising contributions and setting development goals. Standing weekly coordinator meetings and advance-booked departmental meetings give interns time to process learning and ask questions despite busy schedules. In the 2016 programme, a formal review at four to six weeks addressed strengths and improvements, followed by an end-of-placement meeting with the intern, manager and co-director. The intern prepared a short report summarising the experience, both to start discussion and to support future job applications; programme improvements were encouraged and implemented where possible.
Hiring or releasing an intern should follow thorough performance assessment, with 360-degree feedback particularly useful. Checklists support consistent integration; interns entering permanent writer roles may be assessed for production readiness before live work is assigned incrementally with clear duties and a manageable workload. Offboarding should be sensitive, with direct developmental feedback, requests for programme feedback and an exit interview where possible, so interns leave with a positive impression.
In the consultancy pilot, the exit interview was scheduled at the start, and the company reviewed its own experience afterwards. Placements should offer lasting benefit, such as authorship or editing credit, industry connections or employment. HR staff and managers can provide application advice and references, advise on other opportunities and support promising interns applying for permanent posts. Prior induction, training and familiarity with the company can help a retained intern contribute immediately. The consultancy's first intern moved into part-time project management while completing her degree, then full-time employment; where hiring is impossible, continuing contact can provide mentoring, advice and references.
Early advertising matters because students plan placements months ahead. In 2022, the consultancy planned more writing interns, an IT pilot and partnerships with local colleges and outreach programmes for first-generation students, with future expansion to historically Black colleges and universities, tribal organisations and international student groups.