Ten weeks is a short window to make a lasting impression on a future hire.
The best gifts for interns treat the newest people on the team like teammates, not visitors. An internship program is also a recruiting engine. The class unpacking welcome kits this June is next spring’s shortlist for return offers, and their classmates hear every detail. The gift ideas for interns below run from stickers that cost pennies to a Nike backpack, with a farewell section for the send-off.
You may not need a full new-hire box for a ten-week program. Our guide to new hire welcome kits and packs for remote employees covers complete kits, from what goes inside to how they reach remote employees. For an intern class, a lighter mix works: some items that prepare them for the job, and some that are simply fun to open. With Swag in a Box, we can build, store, and ship those kits in a few clicks, whether your interns sit in the office or work from home.
Key Takeaways
- Gifts for interns work best as a mix of small identity pieces, custom apparel, office essentials, everyday useful items, and one or two high-end picks.
- Most of today’s interns are Gen Z, an audience that notices sustainability and remembers good branded merchandise.
- A welcome kit lands better when everything arrives together in one branded box instead of trickling out of a supply closet.
- A farewell gift sends interns back to campus as advocates and keeps the door open for return offers.
- Budgets flex from pennies-per-sticker to premium tech, so you can outfit a whole class or splurge on a standout hire.
Why do intern gifts matter?
Intern gifts matter because an internship is a two-way audition. Your interns spend the summer deciding whether to come back, right as you decide whether to ask. Most intern classes are Gen Z. In PPAI’s 2024 Gen Z consumer study, 89% of Gen Z consumers (ages 18-26) believe sustainability is important, and 68% report branded merchandise positively impacts their perception of a brand. Intern swag chosen with that audience in mind does quiet recruiting work every time it gets used.
Interns also talk. A class that heads back to campus in your gear keeps recruiting for you all fall, in dorms, career centers, and group chats you will never see. Next year’s applicants already know someone who liked working for you.
Small Gifts for Interns
Small gifts for interns mark membership from day one. A sticker on a laptop lid or a colorful pen clipped to a notebook says this desk belongs to someone on the team. Each of these costs little enough to cover the entire class without an approvals meeting.
- Die-cut to any shape, from logos to mascots
- The classic laptop and water-bottle identity marker
- A phone top-up for commutes, classes, and event days
- Slim white body that shows a printed logo cleanly
- Smooth writer with a color-gradient barrel
- Colorways: Pink to Turquoise, Turquoise to Lime, Yellow to Pink
Custom Apparel for Interns
Custom apparel for interns is the swag that travels. A trucker hat at a weekend game or a zip hoodie worn to class puts your logo in front of an entire campus, no career-fair booth required. Even custom socks end up in photos.
Apparel also scales cleanly to a cohort. When Alder Graduate School of Education welcomed its incoming teaching cohort remotely, branded t-shirts were the welcome gift, and a giveaway form let each person pick their own size. Their team said that flow saved hours of manual work. The same setup fits an intern class scattered across schools and time zones.
- Snapback trucker style from the brand every campus knows
- Ten colorways, your logo embroidered front and center
BELLA+CANVAS Unisex Sponge Fleece Zip Hoodie
- Sponge-fleece softness that works for class or the office
- 16 colors in a relaxed unisex fit
Custom Office Items for Interns
Custom office items for interns turn a warm welcome into day-one readiness. A desk stocked before your intern arrives says the program was built with them in mind.
For a full day-one checklist, our guide to new hire onboarding swag breaks welcome kits into first-day essentials, a core kit, and a premium tier.
- Eggshell pages, thin ruling, and an elastic band closure
- 7 cover colors to match your brand
- Finds keys and badges with a 350-foot range
- Rings on demand from the Tile app
- White or Black
- Keeps notes and handouts together across meetings
- 5 colors, including Navy Blue and Brown
Useful Gifts for Interns
Useful gifts for interns cover the unglamorous parts of the summer: the commute, the hot train platform, the laptop-and-lunch shuffle. A water bottle that insulates all day and a tote that packs down flat smooth out the little things nobody budgets for.
Many intern cohorts are hybrid, splitting the week between home and a hot desk. Our tips to maintain company culture in the hybrid office cover keeping a team connected when half of it is remote on any given day.
- Keeps cold drinks cold for up to 24 hours, warm ones warm for 12
- 9 colors, including pastels
- Carries a laptop and lunch, then folds down to nothing
- 17 colors, from Shadow to Fruit Punch
- Grip and stand for steadier one-handed phone use
- Logo faces out every time the phone comes out
High-End Gifts for Interns
High-end gifts for interns are recruiting spend, and they should be aimed like it. The pieces below are the kind interns find genuinely cool but rarely buy for themselves. Companies competing for the same engineering and finance interns use a premium send to tip a return-offer decision. We recommend saving this tier for the final week, a signed return offer, or a standout performer.
For more ideas at this level, our guide to luxury corporate gifts and high-end promotional items works through premium picks category by category, from tech and apparel to drinkware and travel.
- Built for the campus-to-career commute
- Detachable mini bag for earbuds and pens
- Black or Desert Khaki
- Apple AirPods, hand-painted in your brand design
- The centerpiece of a premium welcome kit
- Holds coffee at an exact temperature, set from the Ember app
- No more cold coffee after a long meeting
Farewell Gifts for Interns
Farewell gifts for interns give the program a real ending instead of a quiet badge return. A good farewell gift for an intern is a keepsake first: tie it to the class year, the project they shipped, or the team they sat with. The best send-off gifts also stay useful in the next chapter, whether that is a dorm desk or a first apartment.
Keep the send personal. A handwritten note from the manager, paired with one small program-completion keepsake, lands harder than a bigger box of extras.
- Die-struck enamel keepsake, cut to a custom shape for the intern class
- Gold, silver, or black nickel plating
- Insulated camp cup for the next desk, dorm, or road trip
- Finishes: Black Powder, White Powder, Black Speckle
Titus Wireless Charging Journal
- A journal for the next chapter, with a wireless charging pad in the cover
- Notes on one side, a charged phone on the other
- Graphite
FAQs About Intern Gifts
What should you get an intern on their first day?
A first-day gift for an intern should mix one identity piece with one working tool: think custom stickers and a pen alongside a notebook and a water bottle. Pack everything in one branded box so the desk is ready before they are. An intern welcome gift that arrives assembled reads as planned, not improvised.
Are intern gifts worth it for small programs?
Yes. Intern gifts are worth it even for a two-intern program, because every intern returns to a campus full of classmates. Small batches are easy to order: our no-minimum collection has gifts with no order minimum, and order minimums in many categories start as low as a single unit.
What is the best way to send gifts to remote interns?
A giveaway link plus direct shipping gets gifts to remote interns with the least friction. With Swag Gifting, you send a link and each intern picks their size and enters their own address, so nobody chases apartment numbers in a spreadsheet. It is the same flow Alder GSE used to welcome its remote cohort.
When should you give an intern a farewell gift?
A farewell gift for an intern lands best in the final week, at a wrap-up lunch or the last team meeting rather than in a goodbye email. If a return offer is coming, pair the send-off with the offer conversation. A gift given while everyone is still together reads as recognition; one that ships after they leave reads as admin.
Ready to build an intern welcome kit?
We help teams run the whole intern arc, from the first welcome kit to the last-day send-off. Pick the items, upload your design, and we handle decoration and direct-to-recipient shipping. Build it as one swag box and day one takes care of itself.
Want help bringing your ideas to life? Fill out the form below and a Swag.com representative will be in touch to get you started.
