The Benefits of using Partnerships to Grow Your Internship

Entry by Ashley Cashen, Talent Acquisition and Retention Coordinator, digitalKnowledge

As you may recall in my earlier blog entries, digitalKnowledge chose to team up with the Interns for Indiana Program through Purdue University for their first internship.  We chose to go this route for a couple of reasons.  First and foremost, with this being our first internship in company history we could use the help.  Interns for Indiana has supported our internship from the beginning, including sending us resumes of students who fit our criteria and setting up an “interview fair” for us to meet these candidates. Secondly, Interns for Indiana offers funding for smaller start-up companies. 

Choosing to partner with Interns for Indiana has without a doubt been one of the best decisions we could have made.  Not only do they offer administrative support to employers, but they also provide the interns with additional educational opportunities.  Bart has had the chance to participate in a few “brown bag” lunches this summer.  During these lunches he was able to network with other interns in the program, as well as hear speakers from different industries and backgrounds.

While digitalKnowledge may eventually choose to single-handedly take on their internship with no assistance from partnerships or other organizations, I cannot stress how beneficial partnerships can be for those companies just joining the world of internships.  They give you that extra bit of support you need to get your program up and running.  We will walk away from our first internship with many lessons learned, but its nice to know that we may have avoided some mishaps through our connection with Interns for Indiana.

Our experience with Interns for Indiana was not only positive because of their encouragement and assistance, but also because of the message they are trying to get across.  Their goal is to show undergraduate students that there are a wealth of opportunities right here in Indiana.  Through this program they are making a difference and preventing that infamous “Indiana Brain Drain.”

digitalKnowledge and Bart wrapped up their involvement with Interns for Indiana today with a Student Recognition Luncheon.  Bart was asked to create a poster presentation of his experience with digitalKnowledge and to share what projects he took on this summer. (See pictures)  It was great to participate in this event not only to support Bart, but to see all of the other really great projects that these summer interns were able to be a part of.  I think its clear that students getting ready to enter that “real world” don’t need to look much further than their own backyard to find a lot of opportunities.