Onboarding and playbooks
Intern cohort plan
A plan for a cohort of interns who start together: setup before day one, a first-week check-in, a mid-point review and a wrap-up with the team.
New playbook. Opens a new playbook with these steps and timings. Each person’s steps wait for your approval before they send.
Interns who start together can share one timeline. Their managers prepare in the week before, and every intern gets the same welcome, reviews and wrap-up.
This plan counts from the cohort’s first day, with a check-in after a week and reviews at the middle and the end.
Shuffl · HR by the numbers
A cohort is a hiring pipeline
A cohort is a hiring pipeline. 3.9% more interns US employers expected to hire in 2025-26 than in 2024-25 (NACE, 2026) (National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), April 20, 2026). 72% average full-time offer rate for interns in in-person programs (NACE, 2025) (National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), August 11, 2025). 56% average offer rate for programs mixing remote and in-person work (NACE, 2025) (National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), August 11, 2025).
Get ready for intern
To their manager, 7 days before the date you pick.
**Get ready for {{hire}}**
{{hire}} starts on {{start_date}}. A few things make the first day feel planned rather than improvised.
- [ ] Request a laptop and accounts
- [ ] Plan their first project
- [ ] Pick someone on the team they can ask anythingWelcome, intern
To the intern, 2 days before the date you pick.
**Welcome, {{hire}}**
Your internship starts on {{start_date}}, together with the rest of your cohort. {{manager}} will meet you on your first morning.
- [ ] Add a profile photo in SlackYour first day
To the intern, on the date you pick.
**Your first day** Today is about getting set up and meeting people. Ask anything, here or in Slack. - [ ] Sign in to your accounts - [ ] Say hello in your team channel
Your first week
To the intern, 5 days after the date you pick.
**Your first week** You made it through week one. No question is too small, so keep asking. - [ ] Write down one thing you want to learn this month
Checking in
To the intern, 7 days after the date you pick.
**How is your first week going, {{hire}}?**
No question is too small. If anything is stuck, say so and a named person from HR will follow up with you directly.Hold a mid-point review with intern
To their manager, 35 days after the date you pick.
**Hold a mid-point review with {{hire}}**
- [ ] Share what is going well and one thing to work onYour last weeks, intern
To the intern, 70 days after the date you pick.
**Your last weeks, {{hire}}**
Before you go, show your team what you worked on, and tell us what would make the next cohort’s internship better.
- [ ] Present your project to the teamWrap up intern’s internship
To their manager, 70 days after the date you pick.
**Wrap up {{hire}}’s internship**
- [ ] Hold a final review
- [ ] Ask what to change for the next cohortHow to adapt it
- Shuffl fills in {{hire}} and {{manager}} for each person. Replace them by hand if you send the message yourself.
- Keep the cohort in one list group, so adding them to the plan is one step.
- Ask each intern what to change for the next cohort, and change it.
What the research says
Employers are growing their programs. NACE found that employers expected to bring in 3.9% more interns in 2025-26 than in 2024-25, and more than half planned to increase their number of interns.1
The end of an internship is a hiring decision. Employers converted 63.1% of their 2024-25 interns into full-time hires, the highest rate in five years.2 Those hires stay longer: more than three-quarters of former interns are still there after a year and more than half after five years, against less than half and around one-third of hires with no internship experience.3
How interns work affects offers. In NACE’s 2025 report, the average offer rate was 72% among employers with in-person internships and about 56% for programs that mixed remote and in-person work. NACE says there are likely several factors, but the format may have played a role.4
NACE’s definition of an internship includes a defined beginning and end, clear learning goals and direct supervision by someone who gives useful feedback.5 A shared start date, a mid-point review and a final review build those into the plan.
What the law requires
In the US, courts use the primary beneficiary test to decide whether an intern is an employee owed minimum wage and overtime. Its factors include whether the internship fits the academic calendar, whether its length is limited to the period of useful learning, and whether both sides understand there is no entitlement to a paid job at the end.6
In the UK, an intern who counts as a worker is normally due the National Minimum Wage, and an intern promised a contract of future work counts as a worker. Students required to do an internship of less than one year as part of a UK further or higher education course are not entitled to it.7
Common mistakes
- Starting interns on different days with no shared welcome. One start date lets the cohort meet, learn together and lean on each other.
- Skipping the mid-point review. It is the last chance to fix a project or a poor fit while there is time left.
- Running the final review without the goals set at the start. Clear learning goals and feedback from a supervisor are part of NACE’s definition of an internship.5
- Promising a job to keep interns keen. In the UK, an intern promised a contract of future work is a worker due the National Minimum Wage.7
- Going quiet once the internship ends. Tell each intern when they will hear about an offer, and keep in touch with the ones you want back.
Common questions
- How long should an internship be?
- There is no set length. NACE says an internship should have a defined beginning and end, agreed by both sides, that fits the school’s schedule. For unpaid US placements, one factor courts weigh is whether the length is limited to the intern’s learning period. A shared start date makes mid-point and final reviews easy to schedule.
- What should an intern’s final review cover?
- Go back to the learning goals agreed at the start: what they worked on, what they learned and what to work on next. Ask for their feedback on the program, and be clear about whether a full-time offer is possible and when they will hear.
- Should an intern cohort work in person?
- It can help with hiring. NACE found that employers with in-person internships extended full-time offers at an average rate of 72%, compared with about 56% for programs that mixed remote and in-person work, though NACE notes other factors likely play a part.
Sources
Read on . Laws change, so check the source before you act. This page is general information, not legal advice.
- National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), Employers Plan to Expand Summer Intern Hiring This Year, April 20, 2026. Press release on the NACE 2026 Internship & Co-op Report.
- National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), Intern Conversion Rate Hits Highest Mark in Five Years, April 3, 2026. NACE 2026 Internship & Co-op Survey, October 15, 2025 to January 4, 2026; 284 organizations.
- National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), Internship Program Retention Rates Underscore Long-term ROI, May 14, 2026. By Kevin Gray. From the NACE 2026 Internship & Co-op Report; 284 organizations.
- National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), Intern Offer and Conversion Rates Fall, Acceptances Rise, August 11, 2025. By Mimi Collins. NACE 2025 Internship & Co-op Report, surveyed October 16, 2024 to January 2, 2025; 247 organizations.
- National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), Internship Meaning and Definition: A NACE Guide, June 2023.
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #71: Internship Programs Under The Fair Labor Standards Act, Updated January 2018.
- GOV.UK, Employment rights and pay for interns, No date stated; read October 2026.