When you consider talent investments, don’t overlook internship programs. They could be one of the best talent investments your company will make.
For starters, they’re a smart way to build a sustainable talent pipeline. When you have the opportunity to identify and nurture future employees early, you can create your own pool of pre-trained, high-potential candidates from whom to pick. This reduces the time, costs and hassles associated with traditional hiring practices. It’s a cost-effective way to evaluate potential employees and their skills, as well as their work ethic and cultural fit.
Interns can also infuse your workplace with new ideas, enthusiasm and up-to-date knowledge based on their academic experiences and their exposure to technology. When channeled effectively, their perspectives can help shape innovation and give your company a competitive edge.
You Must Put in the Work
But if you want to benefit from the value that interns can bring, you must put in the work. An internship program involves much more than just bringing in a few students and assigning them warehouse tasks or busywork for 12 weeks. It actually requires you to do the following:
- Design a structured program that aligns with the needs of your business and your interns.
- Connect interns to meaningful, hands-on projects that challenge them and allow them to contribute to company success.
- Offer mentorship, guidance and regular feedback to help interns develop their skills.
- Foster a collaborative and welcoming environment that encourages creativity and learning — and that doesn’t penalize mistakes.
- Track intern productivity to evaluate their contributions, identify areas for improvement and ensure alignment with project goals.
- Identify capable workers who are willing and able to supervise interns, provide guidance and give them the support they need to contribute.
When you put it like that, an internship program seems like a lot of work — because it is. But that is where NSCA’s Ignite Internship Program comes in. Whether your internship program is just getting started or it’s already well established, or if you just need help finding interns to fill open positions, we can help you overcome these challenges. It’s one of many ways that NSCA is helping integrators and manufacturers fill their workforce funnels.
Participants Weigh in on Impact of Ignite
Launched in 2018, our collection of resources helps you bring interns into your organization and position them for success.
Although other programs do exist to help companies launch or augment their internship programs, the frameworks they provide are often very general. The Ignite Internship Program is the only industry-specific resource available to integrators and manufacturers. And with commercial integration being such a niche industry — an industry that involves a unique combination of technical knowledge and soft skills — our program equips companies with the tools they need to nurture and develop future-ready talent.
For Grant Grimmett, a recruiting specialist at Mechdyne, the Ignite Internship Program provided the guidance he needed as he took over management of his company’s existing internship initiative. “This was my first time running an internship program, but I didn’t have to seek out much information on my own to get started,” he says. “I was provided with a framework that offered guidance on how we should run the program. All I had to do was adjust it to our own timeline.”
For Dawna Payne, Texadia Systems’ executive vice president, the Ignite Internship Program provided the structure she needed to enhance Texadia’s internship program and truly make it their own. “The framework was detailed enough to provide structure, yet [it was] flexible enough to adapt to our unique needs. We did build a little ourselves, but it was nice to have something to enhance for our unique culture and learning.”
And it’s not only the leaders of these internship programs who recognize the value that the Ignite Internship Program provides. The interns themselves appreciate the structure and guidance the program brings to their experiences. Indeed, the structure helps everyone get something valuable from the program:
- Interns emerge with an appreciation for the commercial integration industry, your company and the skills they can contribute to specific roles.
- Companies start building a talent pipeline and get help with projects that have been on the radar for a while but that haven’t been finished due to a lack of time or resources.
“I gained so much from the Ignite program,” a former mechanical engineering major and Mechdyne intern who worked alongside Grimmett last summer says. “Not only did I learn technical skills through hands-on experiences, but Ignite also taught me more about social skills, leadership and how to function effectively as [part of] a team. This was really helpful in a professional setting, and it helped me understand how teams can work together successfully.”
Behind the scenes, internship managers have access to an online software package that helps them develop and track internship program success, guiding everyone through the process with the following:
- Instructions that clearly explain what happens — and when — at each step along the way.
- Videos that introduce interns to different areas within the commercial integration industry.
- Tests that allow interns to demonstrate what they’re learning.
- Reporting and analytics that track productivity and get managers involved with interns’ progress.
“My favorite portion was probably the readings and learning not only what to expect when you enter the business world but also how it’s changed,” a former high school senior and Texadia Systems intern who worked alongside Payne says. “The hands-on experience taught me a lot, and I enjoyed being out in the field and experiencing service calls. I learned a lot from Ignite and would recommend it 100%.”
How to Offset Internship Costs
Let’s not forget that internships also cost money — and NSCA’s Ignite Internship Program can help you with that, too.
To offset some of the costs associated with internship programs, our Ignite Internship Grant offers $1,000 toward the reimbursement of intern wages. These subsidized grants are given to qualifying integrators and manufacturers that hope to transition interns to full-time employees.
If your internship program is part of the commercial integration industry — and if you’re putting forth an effort to help interns experience different departments and work with different mentors along the way — then your program qualifies for an Ignite Internship Grant.
Our industry needs more talented individuals, and you can help us make it happen. We want to assist as many integrators and manufacturers as possible with their internship programs — and that includes you.
“This program is a great way to keep interns engaged and on track,” Grimmett says. “It helps keep everyone accountable for providing a great internship experience. This framework ensures that there are milestones to hit so the intern is not forgotten. They feel like their time spent with the company was valuable. One of our interns has signed on to come work for us full time after they graduate as a mechanical engineer.”
To learn more about Ignite and positioning your internship program for success, reach out to NSCA’s director of workforce development, Laura Janssen. You can apply for an Ignite Internship Grant at IgniteYourCareer.org/internships.
Tom LeBlanc is executive director of NSCA. For more information about joining the association, visit NSCA.org.
