National Intern Day 2027: date, 28 ideas and 15 messages
National Intern Day 2027 is Thursday, July 29. Here’s where the day came from, how to thank your interns and what to post.
National Intern Day is the day companies thank their interns, near the end of most summer programs. Interns care less about swag than about credit, skills and a clear next step, so that is how this guide is sorted. Below: the dates, 28 ideas, a plan for the week and 15 messages to copy.
When is National Intern Day 2027?
National Intern Day 2027 is Thursday, July 29. It is always the last Thursday of July, so the date moves each year. The week around it runs July 26 to July 30. It is an observance, not a public holiday.
| Year | National Intern Day |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Thu, Jul 30 (passed) |
| 2027 | Thu, Jul 29 |
| 2028 | Thu, Jul 27 |
| 2029 | Thu, Jul 26 |
Who started it: WayUp, a job site for college students and recent graduates, created National Intern Day in 2017. The day also marks the release of WayUp’s yearly list of top internship programs.
Sources: nationalinternday.com, WayUp and National Today. KraftyLab is not affiliated with WayUp.
28 ways to celebrate National Intern Day
Pick one or two from each group. Every idea works in the office or remotely unless it says otherwise; treat every intern the same way.
Recognition: credit for real work
Interns want proof their work mattered. Name the work and what it changed.
- Post one result per intern. In the team channel, write what each intern shipped and what it changed, one line each.
- Give them the leadership slot. A 10-minute demo of their project to someone two levels above their manager.
- Mail a handwritten note. Two specific sentences from their manager, sent to their home if they work remotely.
- Write the LinkedIn recommendation now. Before they ask, so it is on their profile before recruiting season starts.
- Put their name in the release notes. Credit them next to the feature, analysis or campaign they worked on.
- Build an intern showcase page. One paragraph and one screenshot per project on the internal wiki, kept for next year's class.
- Run a kudos thread. Everyone who worked with an intern adds one line; send each intern their own thread as a keepsake.
Learning: skills they take with them
The best thank-you for a student is something they can use in their next interview.
- Book coffee chats with leaders. Twenty minutes each, the intern sets the agenda and any question is fair.
- Host a career path panel. Three people from different teams explain how they got their current job, detours included.
- Lend them to another team for a morning. A sales call, a design review or the support queue, so they see how the parts connect.In the office
- Let them vote on a skills hour. Spreadsheets, SQL, presenting or writing for executives, taught by someone in-house.
- Mark up their resume. A recruiter or hiring manager helps each intern add this summer's project in strong, specific lines.
- Run a practice interview. The same interview loop your company uses for new grads, with honest feedback afterward.
- Give a book or course allowance. A small budget for one book or online course they choose and keep.
Social: time with the team, not just the task list
Most interns meet their own team and nobody else. Fix that on the day.
- Let the interns pick lunch. They choose the restaurant or the delivery menu, the team pays and managers join.In the office
- Hold a hosted game for the cohort. Trivia or a scavenger hunt on a call, with interns as team captains.
- Mix them with people outside their team. Short timed one-on-one rounds, so every intern meets a dozen new colleagues.
- Ship a kit to remote interns. A hands-on workshop at home, so remote interns get the same hour as the office.Remote
- Invite former interns now on staff. A casual lunch or call where last year's class answers this year's questions.
- Show them the product in use. A visit to a store, a plant or a customer office they have only seen in slides.In the office
- Finish early on the day. Wrap the workday at 3 on National Intern Day, paid, after the team moment.
Career: the part they remember in five years
A clear next step is worth more than any gift. Leaders own this group.
- Tell them how they did, in writing. A short review of their work, strengths first, before their last week.
- Say it early if an offer is coming. If you plan a return offer, tell them before they leave rather than in the fall.
- Make three warm introductions. People in the field they want, inside or outside the company, with a short note each.
- Offer to be a reference. Say it out loud, and tell them what you would say about their work.
- Write a handoff doc with their name on it. The project carries on after they leave, and they can point to it in interviews.
- Invite them back for the holiday party. Add them to the guest list now, so they stay connected through the school year.
- Ask how the program went. Ten minutes on what to keep and what to fix, so next summer's class gets a better program.
For the rest of the summer, see our intern team building activities, intern icebreakers for week one and tips for a virtual internship. Interns who go quiet in meetings can use how to gain confidence at work.
An intern appreciation week built around the day
One small thing a day, with the main moment on Thursday. Dates are for 2027.
- Mon, Jul 26Announce it. Post the week's plan and ask everyone who worked with an intern for one line of kudos by Wednesday.
- Tue, Jul 27Learn. Coffee chats with leaders and the career path panel, at times that suit the interns.
- Wed, Jul 28Show the work. Each intern demos their project to leadership for ten minutes, then the team asks questions.
- Thu, Jul 29National Intern Day. Notes on desks or in the mail, the team post, then a hosted game or workshop and an early finish.
- Fri, Jul 30Look ahead. Career conversations, reference offers and the program feedback form.
15 happy National Intern Day messages
We wrote every one. Copy a line, then fill the brackets with a name and a real project.
From a manager (5)
For a card, a note or a direct message. Name the project.
For the team channel (4)
Public thanks for the whole class. Keep it about the work.
For LinkedIn (3)
Specific results help their job search. Ask before you tag anyone.
Short lines (3)
Short enough for a desk card or a one-line chat.
Run the cohort event with a host
Want the interns' hour to be something nobody on the team has to plan? Book one.
- A hosted game. An hour of trivia or a scavenger hunt led by a live host, on Zoom by default or Teams, Meet or Webex on request. Book about 2 weeks ahead; a class split across time zones can play it as two sessions.
- Speed Networking. About 45 minutes on its own networking platform: after a short recorded welcome, everyone is matched into timed three-minute one-on-one rooms. Good for meeting people outside their team.
- A kit workshop. An herb gardening kit ships to each intern's home and a host leads the hour. Book at least 3 weeks ahead, about 5 weeks for international addresses.
- In person at your office. Team Trivia, Feud Night, Music Bingo and Blitz Speed Trivia run at your office in 17 US cities. For a hybrid class, run it in the office and add a virtual session for remote interns, or hold one virtual event for all.
Four ways to host the intern class, with today’s price.
Compare formats on our virtual trivia, virtual scavenger hunt, virtual networking and virtual herb garden pages, see every in-person city, or get a free quote with your date and headcount. We reply within 24 hours.
