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URx Forward 2021
Are you onboarding interns and new grads remotely this year? Hear from Symba, Datadog, Duolingo, Gusto and Shopify on how they’ve fostered the intern and new grad community.
Moderator Highlights
- Engage with the intern community as soon as possible; the earlier you can connect to the community and connect the community together the better; e.g. Duolingo had a Discord channel where all interns and new grads can connect before they started; they were able to engage independently in a less curated environment, they even ended up independently hosting bi-weekly game nights on their own
- To combat Zoom fatigue, try to incorporate some sort of physical element to events. For example, Duolingo did a cooking event where they mailed their interns a care package with cooking supplies and personalized cooking gear
- Gusto and Shopify both have affinity groups/employee resource groups to promote representation and inclusion. They get these groups involved with interns so interns of all different backgrounds feel welcome and can open up.
- Try to reduce friction in having interns meet. Set up events that are easier to do and prepare icebreakers. Incorporate games and puzzles so it’s not just people staring at a screen for half an hour. Do something fun and silly at the beginning to set the tone that your company is a safe space for interns. Also, try creating intern pods of 4-5 people so interns can get to know each other and engage outside of large group settings which are tougher for shier people to speak up in.
