When done well, internships provide students with much-needed work experience and professional contacts, while companies get a chance to add temporary staff to areas that need help. And in today’s tight labor market, interns provide the company with a pool of potential candidates they have already vetted and with whom they already have a relationship.

Indeed ranked the top workplaces for internships in the US based on overall ratings and reviews from users who select their employment status as “intern” while reviewing a company on Indeed.com. The five highest-rated companies for intern experience based on employer ratings and reviews, and their scores on a five-point scale, include:

1. Kaiser Permanente: 4.24
2. The Walt Disney Co.: 4.14
3. Northwestern Mutual: 4.10
4. Walgreens: 4.08
5. YMCA: 4.06

Some best practices gleaned from the top-ranked companies include:

• Paid internships can get better results: Though Indeed didn’t set out to include only paid internships on its list, it found that all of the highest-rated companies do pay their interns.
• Offer a variety of tasks: In a professional internship, offer them the chance to try different professional tasks in order to provide challenging experiences. This also enables a company to see how an intern handles a variety of tasks that a regular employee at the company would have to do, which can help evaluate a potential future fit at the company.
• Plan your intern’s work ahead of time: Interns need to be kept busy to be engaged at work and contribute to the company’s goals. When companies don’t think through what they expect of interns and outline tasks in advance, this can result in a wasted opportunity for both parties.
• Think long-term: Companies need to do the work up front to make sure the intern is a good match for the company, beyond just the summer or semester they spend there. This can lead to a potential candidate who already aligns with the company values and mission — and a full-time hire when the internship ends.
• Offer perks and assistance: Interns have options when it comes to choosing a company, so perks and assistance can tip the scales for a company. Consider how to make living in the company’s city easier — such as housing assistance, transportation services, cafeteria privileges, etc. — as well as any unique company products you can offer.