Orientation is important for both interns and employees having their similarities but and just as many differences. This is typically the next step after being hired by most companies and is the time where you will meet the other interns or employees, learn more about what your role will be and the background of the company. Orientation should be a fun, enjoyable experience for everyone involved but should also be full of valuable information, outlining what is expected in the internship or job. Without any sort of orientation for both interns and employees, then they would have no idea of what to do for the company in terms of what tasks to, who any of the other employees or interns are or even what the values of the company are.
Interns: For interns orientation is more of a continuous system of training sessions or meetings with the goal of introducing the values of the company, the role of the interns and the rules and policies of the company. By continuous, this refers to the idea there will be multiple orientation-style meetings throughout the internship, each building on the previous meetings. Interns have the first orientation meeting to learn about the company, their values, who they will be collaborating with and extra training. After that there will be a handful of more meetings that will teach the interns helpful skills like professional development and resume building. If the orientation turns out to be interesting as well as informative then the interns will remain excited to continue working for the company doing their best to help in any way, they can.
Employees: For employees orientation is a place where they are introduced to the area they will be working, the responsibilities of their jobs, the other employees and everything else related to the job. Like interns, having a great orientation will increase the employees desire to work hard and efficiently for the company which will end up benefiting everyone involved. Employees also have a first orientation where they are also taught about the background of the company, what they value and the other employees and employers. They will have other meetings throughout the work year but to a much lesser extent than that of an internship and are focused on going over any concerns regarding the work environment and anything that can improve the company.
The biggest difference for orientation between interns and employees is that interns are typically part time while employees are usually working full time making the process of orientation different from one another. In terms of the differences between orientation for interns and employees it should be less hard on the interns versus the employees just because interns have less experience than an employee though that is not one hundred percent of the time but usually this is the case.
Reading this you can see that orientation between interns and employees is full of its similarities but does also have their differences. These differences are not major reasons but different enough to the point of mentioning them.
What to expect in a typical orientation
Orientation takes place in the first few days of employment. It involves introducing the team, showing the workspace, and sharing any paperwork. Employees spend a part of orientation going over onboarding information.
New hires spend the orientation process with the department they work in. This time is spent explaining daily tasks, familiarizing them with the software or equipment they will use and getting acquainted with team members. This process should be comfortable and inviting for new employees.
What to do after completing orientation
After orientation, the interns or employees will receive their schedule for work as well as some time to get used to everything in the work area from all their coworkers to how the employers except their workers to act while on the job. Now that the work has started, and they have been given their tasks you can expect that they will work hard and effectively providing the company with positive results, as all companies should strive for. Onboarding is the next step after orientation, and this is where they will be going through more training to prepare them for any software, technology, or other essential information.
Intern/Employee Onboarding
Onboarding is bringing the interns or employees into the organization through training which will further increase the company’s skills and understanding. This is separate than the orientation even though it does sound similar, but rest assured they are completely different activities. Onboarding can include systems training which is where they will be trying out the various technologies such as Excel, ClickUp, Python and many others. Another step of training is getting to know the others working alongside you because knowing that everyone is working together increases productivity.