The role and responsibility of an intern supervisor

The supervisor role

As a supervisor you:

• provide training and guidance on a task/procedure
• create a positive learning environment
• monitor workload and pace of work
• organise for the intern to shadow some staff doing their work and to interview some staff about their work
• meet regularly with the intern(s) to discuss progress, setbacks and task completion

Creating a respectful learning environment in the workplace

Ensure your intern knows the following:

• Agreed work hours and workdays (start, breaks, and finish times)
• Agreed absence times for volunteering work or other personal commitments
• Appropriate work clothing and appropriate safety clothing/equipment if required
• Emergency procedures and staff contacts
• Email salutations and message format (provide examples)
• How to address employees and customers in the workplace (in person and over the phone).
• Shared spaces rules regarding tidiness, cleanliness, noise, placing personal items.
• Mobile phone usage during work time.

Your workplace should also strive to be respectful and inclusive towards the intern regardless of gender, culture or language background. Make sure all your interns have equal opportunities to:

• Visit work sites
• Ask for opportunities of particular procedures
• Interact with trades people, customers, and project team members.
• Use tools and equipment required for the job
• Wear correctly fitting safety work clothes
• Take a leadership role in a task
• Demonstrate their skills and experience (rather than assume what an intern can or cannot do – talk with the intern about their skills, ideas and interests)

One of our first interns from UTS, she has gone to manufacturing. She’s doing really well. She worked three years after she left us. She was still doing her course, but she was working continuously all those three years.

Matthew, Supervisor

As a supervisor, you will be the role model for the intern on being a professional engineer. While you cannot control the behaviour or attitude of all your employees, your support and respect for your interns (regardless of gender, culture, religion) will enable them to remain motivated and to be resilient in the workplace.