Dominique Boucher of Nü Echo, a speech applications development company in Montréal, wrote a blog about recruiting interns.

It's possible that Boucher's company is not widely known to students because a) it's small and b) because they primarily post their internships at École Polytéchnique, a local engineering school.

Competition for internships in Montéal is as stiff as in most other places. Because Nü Echo's 2007 summer internship program was a smashing success, Boucher decided to share with others what he learned. He's not saying anything new, yet, it bears repeating since there are still some companies that believe interns are best used as helpers to regular employees.

Boucher's five tips for a successful summer internship program are as follows:

1. Exciting projects: No one likes to be bored, especially at work. This is doubly true for interns because they're still learning and most, if not all, are eager to learn as much as they possibly can.

By offering them interesting, real life projects to do, the odds of their either returning after graduation as new hires or recommending the company they interned for to their friends and classmates increases dramatically.

2. Timing is everything: Many students lament that the turnover time between interviewing for an internship and finally being offered one is too long. This is one instance where slow and study loses the race. Once quality candidates have been selected, get the ball rolling and make an offer before it's too late.

3. Mentoring is essential: Granted summertime is vacation time, still for a student to have a quality internship experience, he needs to have someone available to him at all times. Once interns have been chosen, it's a good idea to start selecting those employees who would make the best mentors, then let them know in advance that vacations will have to be scheduled to accomodate the interns. If possible, have the mentoring employees alternate their vacations so there is never more than a 2:1 student/mentor ratio. If this is not possible, it may be necessary for mentoring employees to schedule vacations for before the interns arrive or after they have left.

4. Inclusion helps: Even though the interns are only there for the summer, smart companies welcome them as if they were new hires ... perhaps someday they will be.

Including interns in regular day to day activities and projects allows them to get a genuine feel for the company's culture, which ultimately helps them decide whether a particular company is a good fit.

5. Underclassmen make good interns, too: Increasingly, students are being urged to start doing internships as early as sophomore year. This can work to a company's advantage if the internship offered is interesting, challenging, and provides competent, enthusiastic mentoring in a pleasant, welcoming environment.

If the internship is memorable - preferably in a good way - students will talk about it and maybe even recommend it to their peers. A company couldn't ask for a better endorsement than a satisfied intern sharing his summer internship expriences on campus in the fall.

Recruiting interns is hard work, but the task can be facilitated by hiring good students, then providing them with an internship experience they'll gladly share with classmates and friends.

A quality internship becomes a win/win situation when students return for a repeat internship, apply for entry level employment with a company where they interned, or through word of mouth, foster a company's reputation as the go-to place for quality internships among their friends.