Contact: Margaret von Steinen
July 6, 2021
Build professional pipelines, attract talent
Student interns enhance your organization not only by providing an extra pair of hands, but they can also help fill an existing skills gap, such as enhancing your social media strategy or focusing on a specific engineering or business challenge.
The pandemic has made our students incredibly flexible and resilient, like Nick Koch, a spring 2021 graduate of 六合之家鈥檚 product design program, from Chelsea, Mich.
Determined to not let the shift to remote work undermine his plans to gain experiential learning experience in his field, Koch pivoted in summer 2020 from a traditional internship to a COVID-19-modified experience with . He worked virtually with a team exploring potential methods for delivering chemotherapy in the home environment, a need far greater during the pandemic when any trip outside the home could be dangerous for a cancer patient.鈥
That experience helped Koch net an independent contract in fall of his senior year as an industrial design consultant at鈥痠苍鈥六合之家鈥檚 Business Technology and Research Park. He helped generate concepts for client presentations.
鈥淢y experience at Tekna gave me the opportunity to work alongside industry professionals and have a hand in real-world projects,鈥 said Koch. 鈥淚 was heavily involved in activities such as sketching, rough model making and design research. Working for Tekna gave me the understanding of what it means to be a professional industrial designer and had a great impact on my future success.鈥濃
Koch鈥檚 tenacity surrounding his internship paid off with a鈥痯re-graduation鈥痮ffer of employment from Stryker Medical, where he is now an industrial designer on a team designing acute care hospital beds and stretchers.
Nick Koch works in the Tekna offices as an industrial design consultant.
鈥淲orking for Tekna gave me the understanding of what it means to be a professional industrial designer and had a great impact on my future success.鈥濃
Noah Gould working at his engineering internship at GAST Manufacturing in Benton Harbor.
An internship with in Benton Harbor was Noah Gould鈥檚 key to setting himself apart from others in his field of mechanical engineering. He completed two summer 2020 internships at GAST, an industry leader in the design and manufacturing of quality air-moving products.
鈥淢y internships at GAST gave me hands-on鈥痚xperience鈥痳unning tests in their labs and鈥痠n the鈥痚ngineering鈥痑rea designing products,鈥 says鈥疓ould, a senior from Highland, Mich.鈥淚 worked with the head engineers to expand my knowledge base鈥痑nd gain鈥痳eal-world experience. With the manufacturing facility attached to the office, I was鈥痑lso鈥痑ble鈥痶o鈥痺ork on鈥痑 manufacturing鈥痩ine for a day to see how designs鈥痗ome鈥痶ogether鈥痑s products.鈥濃
Drew Covert, GAST vice president of engineering, said the company established a structured internship program in partnership with 六合之家 and the Career and Student Employment Services Employer Engagement team four years ago. The goal was to help develop the next generation of talent and accelerate project execution.鈥
鈥淥ur internship program and partnership have flourished with the strong education 六合之家 provides, the opportunities to get in front of students and the great feedback we receive from our interns and the staff at 六合之家,鈥 says Covert. 鈥淲e have provided full-time opportunities for some of our 六合之家 graduates as well as introducing them to鈥痶he collegiate talent鈥痯rogram through our parent company, IDEX.鈥 We are continuing to work on expanding our connection with 六合之家 and all the benefits from this relationship.鈥
鈥淲e are continuing to work on expanding our connection with 六合之家 and all the benefits from this relationship.鈥
Intern-driven discussion groups boost English language learning at nonprofit
Two students from Western鈥檚 School of Social Work have leveraged their learning in the classroom to create engaging discussion groups for adult English as a second language learners through internships at the Kalamazoo Literacy Council (KLC).
Yesenia Vazquez-Camey and Pamela Aguilar lead the discussion groups where they provide English language learners a safe space for self-expression and connection while practicing their conversation skills. Vazquez-Camey also helps conduct evaluations for new and existing learners.
鈥淲orking at the KLC has definitely enhanced my people and communications skills,鈥 says Vazquez-Camey, a senior from Battle Creek. 鈥淚n the classroom, you can learn and read about the profession, but it's not until you actually start doing the work firsthand that you will learn something about social work.鈥
Aquilar appreciates that the KLC staff and internship encourage her to think from the social worker鈥檚 perspective and give her the chance to gain leadership skills. Additionally, Aquilar and Vazquez-Camey have laid the foundation for future interns to lead the discussion groups by developing and documenting the process. These experiences helped Aquilar land a full-time position in June with Family and Children Services in Bilingual and Residential Youth Direct Care鈥攕ix months before her planned graduation in鈥疍ecember 2021.
鈥淭he KLC is not your normal social work internship, working with clients and families,鈥 says Aguilar, a senior from Kalamazoo. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an internship that helps you grow by letting you take the lead on what you want to change. My KLC mentors have taught me that promoting empowerment within our learners helps bring an exponential growth to their learning. These are things that I cannot learn in a classroom.鈥
Michael Evans, KLC executive director, says these pre-professionals bring a high level of energy, curiosity and passion to KLC programming, which is designed to empower adults and their families to reach their full potential. The council has employed 74 六合之家 interns since the organization was founded in 1974.
鈥淧amela and Yesenia鈥檚 dynamic discussion groups have increased the confidence, independence and satisfaction of our English language learners,鈥 says Evans. 鈥淲e appreciate the ongoing collaboration we have with 六合之家 to bring expertise such as this from the University to our organization to help us make a greater positive impact in our community.鈥
Why should I hire interns?
- Create鈥痑 future talent鈥痯ipeline.鈥
- Introduce a fresh perspective and new skillset to your team.
- 滨苍肠谤别补蝉别鈥痗辞尘辫补苍测鈥痯谤辞诲耻肠迟颈惫颈迟测.鈥&苍产蝉辫;
- Get a head start on training before investing in a full-time鈥痟ire.鈥
- Mentorship and leadership opportunities for existing full-time employees.鈥
The Read and Seed community garden and Interpretive鈥疞earning Center, which serve as outdoor classrooms at Kalamazoo Literacy Center are intentionally designed to encourage interpersonal communication. Western interns Yesenia Vazquez-Camey and Pamela Aguilar have been tasked with creating discussion groups in these spaces.
鈥淲e appreciate the ongoing collaboration we have with 六合之家 to bring expertise such as this from the University to our organization to help us make a greater positive impact in our community.鈥
Benefits of interns in the workplace鈥
Investing time and organizational resources into hiring interns is a win-win situation. The commitment is short-term鈥攗sually four to eight months鈥攕alaries are lower and interns can help increase productivity. Interns also provide opportunities for existing employees to gain mentorship and leadership skills as well as experience identifying future talent.
The best interns bring a certain set of , connections, confidence and perspectives to your team. 六合之家 interns are career-ready and prepared to take on meaningful projects. They have the critical thinking and communication skills to effectively work on teams and the confidence to ask questions and challenge norms. They also help increase awareness of your brand on 六合之家鈥檚 campus.
The 六合之家 Corporate Engagement team welcomes you to connect with us to learn more about setting up or enhancing an internship program at your organization at wmich.edu/corporate.
Getting the most from your internship program
1. Develop a plan to utilize an intern in a needed area of your business.
2. Use the same hiring process you use to hire employees.
3. Integrate your intern into the team to the greatest extent possible, including meetings, projects and training opportunities.
4. Provide feedback for your intern so they can learn to grow and better assist your team.
5. Hire your intern, who is now fully trained and familiar with your workflow.