PPB May 2016

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60 • PPB • MAY 2016 THINK
MANAGEMENT
make our industry internships competitive
with others in sales and marketing, there
needs to be a possibility for the intern to get
off the phones and learn other skills. Again,
this can be achieved at any level. A small dis-
tributor may take interns to client meetings or
to a networking group to increase their expo-
sure. A supplier may have the intern spend a
day reviewing orders or updating customer
satisfaction reports. All areas within our
industry hold value and are important to
understanding why we operate the way we do.
Getting Started
Setting up an intern program varies
depending on the school you are working with,
but most of the time it’s an easy process. To get
started, identify a local university or college
with which you want to work and contact their
career success or career services department.
You can narrow down the search by looking for
schools with strong marketing or advertising
departments or business schools. The school
will want some information about your intern-
ship opportunity and a sample intern job
description (see below). Many schools may
have someone come to your place of business
and meet with you, but this will only need to
happen once. After the process begins, to select
candidates the school will review applicants
and send you only ones that closely fit your cri-
teria. After the intern begins working, there
will be various procedures that you will need to
participate in on an ongoing basis such as
hours verification and intern assessments.
Outcomes To Expect
Upon completion of the internship pro-
gram, a student should be able to compre-
hend our industry’s unique supply chain
process and communicate the value behind
the various stages of development and deliv-
ery of a promotional campaign. Most impor-
tant, whether hired or not, a successful com-
pletion means that the intern understands our
place as an advertising medium. This will
ensure that no matter where they end up in
their career, they will always know the power
of promotional products.
Legal Ramifications
There are certain criteria that need to be
met for an unpaid internship to be considered
legal. First, an organization must provide an
educational environment. This would mean
giving the intern a chance to learn and develop
their skills through hands-on experience
instead of giving them a strictly task-oriented
job. Another factor to consider is that the
intern should be using the experience to bene-
fit their educational growth and not exclusively
to have an unpaid job. Next, the employer
must ensure that the intern is not replacing
existing employee roles. Employers should also
not seek out any immediate advantage from
their intern such as making sales or generating
sales revenue. Also, most schools will have the
employing organization state that a job is not
guaranteed at the conclusion of the intern pro-
gram. Finally, the employer and the intern
must agree that there is no financial gain
opportunity for the intern during their time in
the program. If you are considering a paid
internship program, check your state employ-
ment laws.
To learn more about setting up an intern
program and for a sample job description for
suppliers, visit
Seth Barnett, a member of the Millennial
generation, is PPAI’s diversity development
and engagement manager.
Marketing/ Sales/ Advertising Internship
SAMPLE JOB DESCRIPTION FOR DISTRIBUTORS
Description
Our company is looking for a qualified intern to join our promotional products
distributor team. We specialize in marketing physical advertising products as part of
marketing campaigns for our clients. We are seeking an intern who can participate
in various stages of developing and delivering a promotional products campaign.
An ideal intern would be prepared to work in a fast-paced, team environment
and will be able to complete the internship having gained a broad understanding
of the promotional products industry and our unique supply chain.
Responsibilities
• Gain an understanding of the supplier – distributor – end user supply chain in the
promotional products industry by studying processes in sales, art and manufacturing
• Analyze product reports and trends
• Develop sales skills to function as sales support
• Participate in leadership development training through senior leadership
• Develop interpersonal communication skills to help advance personal productivity
• Assist in social media marketing campaigns
• Assist in designing marketing campaigns to hit targeted audiences
• Assist in developing relationships with low performing accounts
Requirements
We are looking for an undergraduate student who is majoring in Marketing,
Management or Advertising. This person should have excellent verbal and written
communication skills, with extensive knowledge of web and social media.
Majors
Marketing, Sales, Management, Advertising