5 ways to beat Google in the intern-recruitment race

(Editor’s note: Nathan Parcells is co-founder of InternMatch.com. He submitted this story to VentureBeat.)

It’s that time of year again. The time when companies descend on Stanford, Berkeley and other college campuses across the country to try and recruit top students as summer interns.

Most startup founders recognize that interns can be a critical resource for making new hires and getting part-time help at a discount.  Startups, with their small bankroll and even smaller brand recognition, have to compete for the best talent with the likes of Google and Facebook who offer large hourly salaries, a great name on a resume, and access all summer to free beer and a sushi bar.

It’s easy to see why many entrepreneurs say it’s just not worth the time

At InternMatch we have hired over 15 interns in the past year – and every one has exceeded the investment we put in to pay and train them.  As just a few examples: we have had design interns create professional grade marketing collateral including business cards.  We have had campus marketing interns sign up thousands of other students to use our site.  We even had an intern pretend to be an InternMatch founder at a pitch competition and go on to win the event by a landslide (beating a number of actual founders no less).

Throughout this year of hiring, we have gained a lot of insight into what strategies help attract the best students.  Here are 5 things startups can do to out maneuver even the most well-known companies:

Be proactive. Companies like Google and Microsoft get thousands of applicants for a single role.  At a startup you need to focus on quality not quantity.

Go directly to schools, pitching at entrepreneurship classes, clubs and networking events to grab the attention of students.  Once you’ve got that attention, use this team of campus evangelists to refer peers and classmates to positions.

Co-opt your investors’ brand. Has your company gotten and investment from a high profile super angel?  Or have you been written about in a top tech blog?  By highlighting these points at the top of a position description, candidates can quickly separate your company from other startups that may not be as high profile.

Sell, sell, sell! This is closely tied to the point above.  Don’t be afraid to hype the benefits of working at your company – from the culture to the team to the advisors and investors involved.  Hiring guru and CEO of JobScore.com Dan Arkind stresses the importance of selling a new hire on the first interview — the same is true for interns.

It is worth noting that in a 2008 Intern Bridge survey; money was not among the top three reasons students gave for picking an internship.  Professional experience, opportunities to network and company culture led the list.

Be creative. If you have a student you really want on board, invite them to the office to meet the team.  Or if they are of age, invite them to bar for a beer.  If you can’t offer them as much money as Google, offer other tangible benefits, like having their picture on your site in the About Us section.  Creative non-monetary benefits can win an intern over at little cost.

Be persistent. Students, especially top students have a lot of options, and therefore don’t focus as much attention on the internship search.  By sending short, friendly emails to students you have interviewed and want to bring on board, your chances of winning out in the recruiting battle are dramatically increased.

But don’t be annoying, if someone clearly doesn’t have the time or interest to intern, ask them if they have a friend who may be a better fit, or if they can send the position out to a club or class listserv. Better to get a quality referral from the one that got away than to have to restart from scratch.