Navan’s Intern Travel Tool Turns Trips into a Perk

With summer break approaching, college students are applying for internship programs to gain work experience, refine their communication skills, and improve their post-grad functionality.

Many companies—especially those operating in high-growth and attractive sectors like media, tech, and entertainment in cities like New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles—compete for the best and brightest young professionals. Full-time internship opportunities often lead to employment offers. Attracting high-quality in-person interns is a measurable and impactful way to attract that same talent before they ever enter a job search. Therefore, competitive organizations serious about hiring the best and brightest should take their summer internships seriously and work to stand out among the competition.

Here are a few tips for attracting the best interns who turn into full-time hires:

(1) Build real-world experience in intern jobs. Don’t just stick interns working on data entry or low-level work in a corner. Interns arrive excited to learn about the job and the office environment. Create opportunities for hands-on professional learning that not’s possible on LinkedIn by inviting interns to join team lunches, get involved in company clubs or interest groups, and make the most of their time at the company.

(2) All internships should be paid internships today. The job description should include a salary description. Treating internship positions with the same respect as full-time roles will lead to more qualified applicants—especially in competitive fields like software engineering. Employers can request that potential interns submit a cover letter as part of the application process.

(3) Position interns to excel. Start a mentor program that connects every intern with a leader within the organization who can answer questions, ease the intern’s transition, and provide real-time feedback. These mentors will be able to provide context and insights into the industry far beyond anything that interns can find in their classrooms or on social media platforms.

(4) Leverage innovative tech for a better experience. Ensure that the technology and tools provided to interns reflects the innovative, tech-forward ethos of the organization. College students are familiar with the latest tech, and they’ll be able to spot right away the inefficiencies and hypocrisy of a modern company leveraging outdated tools.

When it comes to intern travel, everyone is excited about their first business trip. Whether it is part of the interview process or an opportunity to travel arises as part of the internship experience, providing a seamless, efficient travel management process is part of the culture and environment of an organization.

For companies looking to better manage intern travel, which falls outside the parameters of usual employee travel, the Navan Guest Invite solution streamlines the process: It invites interns to book their travel arrangements while following company travel policies, minimizes the back-and-forth necessary to book travel, and provides a better overall experience for both travel arrangers and guests.

The Guest Invite tool is a self-serve mechanism for individuals to invite non-employees to use Navan to book travel as part of an intern program. By simplifying travel arrangements, Navan helps human resources and recruiting teams save time and energy while giving interns the best first experience with their company—no messy reimbursements or expense reports are needed for travel expenses. Travel arrangers also save time with straightforward custom travel policy and spend limit controls for expense reimbursement; employees and non-employees enjoy booking on a best-in-class platform backed by 24/7 expert global support.

Learn more about leveraging the Navan Guest Invite solution for your intern program today