Buddy Manual

Intern Program
2017

Buddy Manual

INTERN BUDDY MANUAL

Congrats on becoming an official intern buddy for _________________ - they sure are lucky to have you.
Your goal is to be the person that the intern can approach for just about anything.

You’re their go-to for questions they think are stupid (how to dial out on the phone, questions about
Basecamp or Workamajig, etc.), a friend to eat lunch with, or a food consultant for the best places in
town. Here are some tips on how to be the best buddy an intern could ask for.

MAKING THE NEWBIE WELCOME

1. Remind the CG team to make the first move and introduce themselves to your intern.
a. It might help to send out an email the day before their first day (with a little bit of
background info (if you have it) to let everyone know there will be a new face in the
office.
b. On their first day, interns usually don’t feel comfortable reaching out or saying hi to
people they’ve just met. Make sure your coworkers are going out of their way to say hi.
c. When the intern starts to sit in on meetings, make sure those in the meeting are asking
for their input and making them feel involved. This will encourage them to speak up
more frequently as their internship progresses.

2. Introduce yourself as their buddy and let them know what your role is as a buddy as opposed to
their Mentor.

3. Ask your intern for their feedback often, especially the first week. It makes them feel like CG
really cares about their experience as an employee (because we do!).

4. New interns usually have anxiety about fitting in, both personally and professionally. Create a
“collage” of employees they’ll be working with directly. It’ll help with names, faces, and give
them a sense of people’s interests and hobbies outside of the office.

5. As you know, culture is huge at CG. Make the intern feel immersed in our culture as soon as
possible. Whether that’s making sure they feel welcomed at social outings or the lunch table, it
makes a huge difference in their confidence level.

WEEKLY “WHAT’S UP” MEETINGS
Each week, set up a 15-minute meeting with your intern to check in on how things are going both in and
out of CG. These meetings show the genuine investment we make in our employees from director-level
to interns.

INTERN/BUDDY OUTING CALENDAR
Over the course of the internship, the intern and buddy should set up at least 3 official “outings”. They
can be lunch dates, after-work drinks, volunteering, etc.

Date Time Activity