Your summer intern cohort starts soon. After months spent recruiting, interviewing, and extending offers, you're now finalizing first-day logistics (like welcome packages, tasks, resources, you name it). Your team is prepped for interns to walk through the door on their first day, and everything is smooth sailing…right?
The reality for a lot of programs is actually the opposite. 70% of new hires decide whether a job is right for them within their first month, and 29% within the first week.
The time between offer acceptance and the start date is when candidates and interns who have accepted offers can start to doubt their decision, and start looking at the competing offers they’ve received. If they end up regretting that decision, you’ll be left tackling the turnover, something HR leaders know all too well. 61% report rising early turnover, with 29% citing high turnover in the first 90 days as their top onboarding challenge.
Programs that treat pre-boarding as an afterthought often pay for it with reneges, early exits, and cohorts that struggle to gel. But, if you intentionally build engagement before day one, you’re one step closer to building a winning program.
How pre-boarding determines your program's success
The pre-start phase impacts every aspect of your program that follows, and it matters more than you might realize. Candidates are making decisions much faster than we think, with their program experience being a huge factor. For example, employees with structured onboarding are 69% more likely to stay in their roles, and that same onboarding experience can influence interns to stay or go, too.
When candidates experience weeks or months of silence after accepting an offer, they inevitably begin questioning their decision, wondering if they chose the right company or if the role will truly deliver what was promised.
Building early connections is also a helpful tactic to drive long-term engagement. Take Gallup's 2024 research as an example: when employees have positive candidate experiences, they’re 3.2 times more likely to feel connected to their organization's culture. However, these connections don’t magically come about on their own; they have to be consciously built before day one, through touch points, pre-start activities, mentor and peer introductions, and consistent engagement.
4 pre-boarding activities that build real engagement
You don’t need to boil the ocean and have your program completely mapped out before you start building better engagement with new hires; the key is to be consistent.
Create peer connections before day one
Consider setting up a Slack channel, WhatsApp group, or private community where accepted candidates can meet their cohort. This is where you can make introductions and share updates, resources, and other helpful touch points that allow interns to build relationships before they even arrive.
Prioritize consistent communication
Avoid going silent for months only to bombard candidates with paperwork two weeks before their start date. Instead, it’s better for both program engagement and the intern to have a consistent communication cadence where you’re sharing relevant info, helpful resources, and checking in to keep them engaged ahead of day one.
Assign a dedicated point of contact who's responsive
Provide candidates with a real person to connect with, whether it's a program coordinator, peer mentor, or team member, who can respond quickly to their questions. You should choose the team member who can consistently be responsive and follow up with interns, to help prevent any lags in communication or radio silence.
Pro tip: use a general Campus team email so if someone is out, nothing is missed.
Connect new hire with a mentor or buddy
Consider pairing new hires with a mentor or buddy to guide them before they jump into their new role. It could be someone on their team or a peer who's been through a similar program. The goal is to give new hires a chance to connect and build relationships ahead of day one.
When it comes to rotational programs, mentor or buddy pairing can make or break an intern's experience across different teams. Abode's new Rotation Matching streamlines how placements and mentor assignments are managed, so your interns are matched with the right people at the right time.
3 mistakes that harm pre-boarding engagement
If you’re auditing your existing program, or thinking of rehauling your engagement activities, knowing what won’t work is just as crucial as knowing what will. But there are 3 common mistakes that are easy to avoid.
- Treating pre-boarding as pure administration: If your pre-start touch points mainly revolve around getting documents signed, reminding interns about tasks, and sharing admin updates, you're missing a critical opportunity to engage them through real connection, rather than HR follow ups.
- Assuming candidates will stay excited on their own: The initial excitement from offer acceptance will naturally fade, especially if there’s no proactive engagement that keeps the momentum going ahead of day one. To keep interns from looking at other opportunities or offers, you have to be consistent with engagement.
- Waiting until day one to build community: Candidates should have the chance to meet their cohort before their first day, because there’s value in building peer connections in advance. By providing opportunities for them to bond before day one, they’ll be more confident on day one and feel supported by their program.
Putting pre-boarding into practice
Use this sample framework you can adapt for your program's timeline and resources, to help pre-board new hires and drive better engagement before day one.
Weeks 1-4 after acceptance: Send a welcome email with a clear timeline and expectations of what’s to come before their first day. Introduce their assigned point of contact, invite them to the cohort community, and ship the first piece of company swag or a welcome package.
Weeks 5-8: Share a personalized video from the hiring manager or team lead. Provide access to culture content (employee stories, day-in-the-life videos), and invite interns to an upcoming event (virtual or in-person).
Weeks 9-12: Introduce candidates to 2-3 team members (their mentor, buddy or someone on their future team). Share any pre-work, learning resources, or role-specific preparation materials, and, if you can, consider hosting a virtual cohort meetup or Q&A session.
Weeks 13-16: Send a detailed first-week schedule with specifics about where to go, what to bring, and what to expect. At this point, you can also confirm all logistics (parking, building access, dress code, equipment), and do final check-in calls to address any last minute questions or concerns.
The investment pays off in retention
While pre-boarding requires effort, coordination, and consistency, the alternative (losing interns before they start or risking their disengagement in the first month) costs more. The window between "yes" and day one is the most critical, because this defines whether you build the foundation for a successful cohort, or let new hires slip through the cracks.
Want to see how Abode automates pre-boarding engagement so your team can focus on building connections instead of chasing logistics? Book a demo here.
