No, we are not talking about having affairs with your interns; that’s just the only title we could come up with at the moment. As students in many places are now taking exams and preparing to start whatever summer internship they have lined up, it’s worth thinking about what you should do with your interns once you have them.

Internships can be a really good deal for both the intern and the person overseeing them. Everybody can win, but only if you do it right. Do it wrong, and you’ve not only wasted time, you may have wasted a potential employee. You might be wondering if it’s worth it to get into the realm of internships, so before you jump in and take on an intern or two, think about why you are doing it and what’s involved.

Think about what you will need to provide. You may have to pay them (and you need to decide if this is a paid or unpaid internship before you advertise it). You need to offer training in your field; after all, this why people take internships for low or no pay rather than getting more traditional jobs. If they are good, you should provide them with positive references when they are applying for jobs later, whether with your company or somewhere else.

If you are going to hire interns, one of the biggest challenges is that you may not have much for them to do. You might consider having them work a shorter schedule than regular employees. Be flexible, too; if there’s really nothing for them to do that day, and no one has time to work with them at the moment, let them take off, especially if they have studying to do or a paying gig they need to get to.

Also, bear in mind that interns expect to get some training in how the business works. You need to be prepared to make time for that, having them assist different people with a variety of work and not just brushing them aside because they are “too much trouble.” Just as they have certain obligations to you, so too do you have obligations to them. Someone in your firm needs to be responsible for them, and you should have a plan in place for what you’re going to do with them and how you’re going to help develop them.

Try to let them have an input into your process. Creative work often benefits from a fresh perspective, and nothing is fresher than an intern. If they are just getting coffee for you and making copies, they are not going to learn much (unless they actually read the stuff they copy). By letting them participate in the actual work you can give them a taste of what this career would be like.

In addition to helping them see how their personality fits into this field, you can also help them with their professional skills. Help them set up a good LinkedIn profile. Give them a sense of what a good dress style would be, how a professional email should be written, the importance of being on time for events, and meeting deadlines. Believe it or not, not everyone grows up instinctively knowing these things.

Having said all that, if you really do not have anything for them to do or you cannot afford to put some effort into an internship program, then don’t bother having interns in the first place. The worst thing you can do is advertise for interns, bring them on board, and then say “well, they are only here for a few weeks, there’s nothing for them to learn in that time.” If people are just sitting around bored for a few weeks, they may get so disgruntled that they switch fields. This is their chance to try something before making a full commitment; don’t ruin it for them.

Interns can be fun, and you can start a professional relationship with them at this stage. If you think it’s too much trouble, if your company is too small or the work is too fast-paced, then don’t take them on. But if you think it can do you and them some good, give it a shot. Done properly, everybody wins.