How to use interns as a way to tackle entry-level employee challenges

Many companies are realizing the challenges in their young and entry-level employees are expanding. The gap between what’s taught (in school or via onboarding) and what happens on the job leaves new employees underprepared, unmotivated, or unsure how to take initiative. 

The risk of not addressing these challenges are employees that will become disengaged and ultimately churn. The objective is to use interns to not just grow a further pipeline of talent but approach the current challenges of the younger employees.

The Problem: Skill Gaps, Low Initiative & What the Data Shows

Recent studies underscore how widespread the challenges are in hiring and developing entry-level or younger workers. These aren’t just anecdotal complaints—they’re backed up by measurable survey data:

• According to a 2024–2025 General Assembly survey of 651 leaders and over 2,300 employed adults in the US and UK, only 22% of leaders say entry-level employees are very or completely prepared for their jobs—this is up from 12% the prior year, but still a very low number. General Assembly
  
• 47% say entry-level employees are only somewhat prepared, 29% that they are hardly prepared. General Assembly
  
• One major driver is weak soft skills: 56% of leaders cite weak soft skills (communication, collaboration, adaptability) as the biggest issue. General Assembly
  
• From another perspective, a survey by Stagwell / Big Brothers Big Sisters found that 82% of managers say Gen Z hires lack necessary job skills. Nearly three quarters of Gen Z respondents said they lacked access to mentorship. Stagwell
  
• Another trend: entry-level roles are being redefined. Business Insider recently noted that many of these roles are demanding 2–3 years’ experience, blurring or erasing the traditional “starter job.” This means younger workers are squeezed from both sides—education into role expectation, and workplace into ownership. Business Insider
  
  

Why Internships Can Be Part of the Solution

Internships are often thought of as opportunities for interns—learning by doing, getting exposure, seeing how the business works. But when structured deliberately, they can also help your entry-level employees in several ways:

Reinforcing mastery through teaching
One of the most effective ways to learn is to teach. When an early-career staff member must explain processes, train an intern, or walk someone through how to do tasks, it forces them to clarify their own understanding. They notice gaps, refine workflows, and often internalize best practices more deeply than they would through solo work or passive training.

Building ownership and accountability
Having responsibility for another person’s learning naturally raises the stakes. The mentor must think about processes end to end, anticipate questions, see the consequences of mistakes, and ensure consistent results. This kind of accountability encourages more proactive behavior, because the mentor is no longer just “doing their own tasks”—they’re now helping build part of the team’s capacity.

Developing early leadership and initiative
Mentoring gives young employees a chance to take on leadership roles—even if informal. They practice giving feedback, designing learning moments, managing up (when they need resources or support), and modeling behavior. These are often precisely the skills that employers say are missing in entry-level cohorts.

Creating a culture of mentorship and continuous learning
When mentoring becomes part of how work gets done, you build a multiplier effect. Entry-level employees become more engaged (because they have more influence), and managers have more bandwidth (because some of the onboarding/training burden is shared). For interns, it gives a clearer pathway, and for the organization, it builds resilience and stronger internal capability.

First, Define “Internship”

Before you can build a mentorship model around internships, it’s critical to define what internship means in your context. The term fluctuates widely by industry, region, and even company culture.

In some organizations, an internship might mean short-term project support with limited scope. In others, it’s an immersive experience tied to academic credit, certification, or a pre-employment pipeline. The problem is that without shared definition, expectations blur—leading to disengagement on all sides.

That’s why the first step is to talk with your team—not just leadership or HR, but the employees who will host and guide interns. Ask:

• What does success look like for both the intern and the mentor?
  
• What kinds of projects or responsibilities fit your environment?
  
• How will accountability and learning outcomes be measured?
  

This collaborative design process not only sharpens your internship model—it also gives your younger employees a sense of agency and ownership. Invite them to co-create the structure: what the intern will work on, how mentorship time will be spent, what skills should be prioritized.

When employees help craft the internship experience, they begin to see themselves as leaders shaping the next generation, not just participants in a company program. That shift in mindset alone drives engagement, initiative, and pride.

Conclusion: Internships as a Lever for Ownership & Leadership

The internship isn’t just a way to bolster your workforce with junior help; it can be a strategic lever to accelerate the growth of your early-career staff. By putting them in the seat of teaching—and by giving them responsibility for bringing someone else along—you provide one of the most powerful ways to build ownership, sharpen skills, and bring out initiative.

The data tells us that many entry-level employees are not yet hitting readiness benchmarks. But rather than seeing this as a failure, companies can see it as an opportunity: where there are skill gaps, there are also chances to build something stronger and more adaptive. An internship-mentorship framework does more than fill gaps—it builds new pathways for leadership, confidence, and lasting performance.

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