Many companies launch internship programs in order to select their most promising interns for their staff. Take these top IT companies for example – Google, Yahoo, IBM, Microsoft – they all recruit college-grads as interns, train them and then hire the best ones. Here are 12 reasons why it’s a good idea to hire one’s own interns.

1. Higher Retention Rates

Statistics indicate that the retention rates are higher for employees who’ve done their internships in the same organization. This could be because of a heightened sense of loyalty towards the company. Plus, you save about $10,000 – $50,000 in tangible and intangible costs towards employee replacement and retraining.

2. Reduced Costs Of Hiring

You can save on employee acquisition costs such– headhunter costs, advertising and event costs, third-party agency fees, internet services costs and referral bonus costs.  You can save on all these costs and enjoy trained and skilled employees by hiring your own interns.

3. Saving Present Staff’s Time

Staff time is saved from activities such as job fairs, resume review, interviews, preparing job Ads, phone pre-screens, candidate short listing, training and deploying new hires. That’s a great deal of time and effort saved, all of which goes to your bottom-line.

4. Easier Cultural Fit

Your interns have already spent several weeks to several months working at your organization. They’ve already been inducted into the culture and are comfortable with it. You don’t have to spend more time inducting your new employees.

5. Appropriate Skill Sets

The skills set you look for in an entry level employee are already present in your own successful intern. By hiring your intern, you succeed in leveraging all the training you’ve imparted, for your own business. No more worries about finding an employee with the specific skills you want!

6. Already Familiar With Company

Your interns are familiar with your company, your products and with the jobs they need to perform. You can save on the entire recruitment period, and just acquaint your interns on the responsibilities of their permanent positions. Half your job is done right there.

7. Proven Work and Dedication

You obtain access to job candidates whose skills, dedication, work ethics, morals, behavior, attitude and promptness are already proven to you.  This means you can directly start with their new job responsibilities and sit back, without the added pressure of normalizing new employees.

8. Avoid Paying Signing Bonus

You don’t need to pay a signing bonus when you convert an intern into a full-time employee. Most interns hope to be selected by the company in which they intern, so it’s a win-win situation for both employee and employer.  That’s additional cost savings for you, which is most welcome for most companies.

9. Lower Salaries

Several top employers report that hiring interns as full-term employees is more cost-effective from a salary and benefits perspective. This could be because for interns, your job offer is what they need to start their career. For you, it’s a continuation of training and deploying.

10. Staff Comfort

Your existing staff and intern supervisors are already familiar with your interns.  By hiring them as full-on employees, you will not be asking anything new of your staff. Supervisory and managerial relationships can continue as is, with a few changes here and there.

11. Excellent Publicity

Hiring your own interns are full time employees is an excellent way to increase your company’s positive image in the market. The companies who regularly hire interns and then absorb them are held in great esteem. There are several PR benefits to be had, apart from earning general goodwill.

Teena is a training facilitator and mentor for top internship programs in China. She herself has interned in Shanghai and is currently working with a top finance organization there