SHAREPOINT INTERNSHIP PLANNING

What are the SharePoint features and topics to cover with a new intern in your organization? Since they're new to SharePoint, start them out with foundational concepts and build toward advanced topics, hands-on projects, and real-world applications.

  • Allocate time for:
    • Regularly scheduled mentoring sessions.
    • Hands-on exercises.
    • Access to resources like Microsoft Learn modules and official documentation and videos.
  • Encourage your intern to practice in a sandbox environment to avoid impacting production sites.
  • Your intern should be able to contribute to site management, automation, and basic customizations by the end of the internship period.

Months 1-3

The intern should create a basic team site, add a library and list, upload content, and share it securely.

  • Introduction to SharePoint
    • Cover what SharePoint is—a cloud-based platform for storing, organizing, sharing, and collaborating on content within Microsoft 365.
    • Discuss key differences between SharePoint Online (cloud-hosted, integrated with M365) and On-Premises (self-hosted, more customizable but complex).
  • Explain site types:
    • Team sites for collaboration and communication sites for broadcasting information.
  • Navigation and User Interface:
    • Teach how to navigate SharePoint sites, including the modern vs. classic experience.
    • Cover hubs, global navigation, and Microsoft 365 groups (which underpin team sites and integrate with Teams and Outlook.
  • Document Libraries:
    • Hands-on with creating libraries, uploading files, versioning, check-in/check-out, metadata columns (e.g., tags, dates), and co-authoring in Office apps. 
    • Emphasize best practices like folder structures vs. metadata for organization.
  • Lists:
    • Basics of creating and managing lists (e.g., task lists, issue trackers). Cover adding columns, views, sorting/filtering, and exporting to Excel.
    • Emphasize best practices like folder structures vs. metadata for organization.
  • Permissions and Security:
    • Understand user roles (Owners, Members, Visitors), sharing files/folders/sites, permission inheritance, and groups. Introduce public vs. private sites and access requests.

Months 4-6

Intermediate Skills (Enhancing Collaboration) Build on basics with features for better user experience and integration. 

  • Pages and Web Parts:
    • Creating modern pages, adding web parts (e.g., Hero for visuals, News for updates, Events for calendars).
    • Customize layouts and use the Quick Links or Document Library web parts.
  • Search and Discovery:
    • How SharePoint search works (using Microsoft Search), refining queries, promoted results, and custom search experiences.
    • Cover content indexing and Delve for personalized insights.
  • Integration with Microsoft 365:
    • Linking
      • SharePoint with Teams (sites as backends for channels)
      • OneDrive (syncing libraries)
      • Outlook (calendar/lists integration)
      • Planner (task management).
  • Library and List Settings:
    • Advanced options like content types, retention policies, alerts, and versioning settings.
  • Milestones:
    • The intern designs a communication site with pages, integrates it with Teams, and sets up custom views/searches.
    • Review with a demo presentation.

Months 7-9

Advanced Topics (Automation and Customization) Shift to power-user features. Dedicate time to no-code tools.

  • Workflows and Automation:
    • Introduction to Power Automate for SharePoint—creating flows for approvals, notifications, and data syncing (e.g., auto-archive old documents).
  • Forms and Apps:
    • Using Power Apps to customize list forms or build simple canvas apps connected to SharePoint data.
  • Reporting and Analytics:
    • Integrating Power BI for dashboards on SharePoint data; site usage analytics and auditing.
  • Governance and Best Practices: Topics like site lifecycle management, compliance (e.g., data loss prevention), performance optimization, and avoiding common pitfalls (e.g., over-nesting folders).
  • Milestone:
    • Automate a process (e.g., approval workflow) and create a report. Involve intern in auditing an existing site for improvements.

Months 10-12

  • Specialization, Projects, and Wrap-Up (Real-World Application)
    • Focus on practical contributions and future skills.
  • Customization with SharePoint Framework (SPFx):
    • If the intern shows interest in development, introduce no-code/low-code extensions or basic SPFx for web parts (requires Node.js basics).
  • Administration Basics:
    • Overview of SharePoint admin center—managing site collections, user profiles, and term stores. (Limit if not in their role.)
  • Mobile and Accessibility:
    • Using the SharePoint mobile app, ensuring sites are accessible (e.g., alt text, keyboard navigation).
  • Emerging Features:
    • Cover recent updates like Viva Connections (intranets in Teams) or AI integrations (e.g., Copilot in SharePoint for summaries).
  • Hands-On Projects:
    • Assign real tasks like migrating content, optimizing a department site, or training other users. Include a capstone project, such as building a full intranet portal.
  • Milestones:
    • Complete projects, document learnings, and prepare a portfolio.
    • End with a review of their growth and certification recommendations (e.g., Microsoft Certified: Microsoft 365 Fundamentals).
    • Throughout the year, incorporate soft skills like troubleshooting (e.g., common errors)
    • Staying updated via Microsoft Roadmap, and ethical considerations (data privacy).
    • Provide resources: Microsoft Learn paths, Udemy courses for self-paced learning, and community forums.
    • Track progress with quizzes or logs, and adjust based on their pace.

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