> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://myinternshiporganizer.com/docs/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Key concepts > The four things Minto keeps track of, and how they fit together. Minto is built around four records. Almost everything you'll do is creating one of them or connecting them to each other. Understanding how they relate makes the rest of these guides much easier to follow. ## The four records A student going abroad on a work placement. Interns come from a sending organization. A company that takes interns. You add these yourself and reuse them across many internships. The school or agency abroad that sends you students. Linked to you by a connection code. One group of interns, travelling for one period, placed at host firms. This is the unit of work you plan and track. ## How they connect An internship is where the other three meet. It usually has a sending organization, a group of interns, and a host firm for each of them. ```mermaid theme={null} flowchart LR S[Sending organization] -->|sends| I[Interns] I -->|grouped into| N[Internship] N -->|each intern placed at| F[Host firm] ``` Two consequences worth knowing early: * **Interns aren't created on their own.** You add them inside an internship, not from the Interns page. The Interns page is for finding and reviewing interns you already have. * **Host firms are reusable.** Add a firm once and it stays in your list for every future internship. The same is true of sending organizations. ## How a placement actually happens The order surprises people who expect to pick a firm from a list. You don't choose where an intern goes — you ask companies until one says yes. ```mermaid theme={null} flowchart TD A[Add the host firms you might call] --> B[Create an internship and add interns] B --> C[Call firms and log each call] C --> D{Did they agree?} D -->|Yes — record how many places| E[Firm is connected automatically] D -->|No| C E --> F[Assign interns to that firm] ``` The step people miss is the third one. **Recording how many places a firm agreed to is what connects it to the internship** — it isn't just note-keeping. Skip it and the firm never becomes available to assign interns to, however positive the call was. Connecting a firm by hand is possible, and it's the right thing for an arrangement made outside Minto. But for active recruitment, the call is the route. ## Placement is the core job Adding an intern to an internship puts them on the roster. It doesn't place them anywhere yet — they still need a host firm that has agreed to take them. The internships list makes this distinction visible. Both columns count against the **planned** number of interns, not the roster: * **Approved** — places host firms have agreed to take, from your recruitment calls. * **Assigned** — interns actually given a firm. So `1/3` under **Assigned** means one of three planned places filled. Approved running ahead of Assigned is the normal state: firms have said yes, and you haven't allocated the students yet. The Minto internships list showing four internships with status, sending organization, and assigned intern counts. ## Fields of expertise Internships and host firms both carry fields of expertise — Hospitality & Tourism, IT & Software, Engineering, and so on. Matching is **internship against firm**, not intern against firm: when you're looking for somewhere to place a group, Minto recommends firms whose fields overlap the internship's. You choose the internship's when you create it. ## Where to go next Build up the list of companies that can take your interns. Set up a travel period and start adding interns.