Securing a job can be intimidating, especially when you lack prior experience, and at the same time, you often need a job to gain that essential experience. This is where internships come into play, offering a pivotal avenue for college students, recent graduates, or those contemplating a career shift to acquire invaluable work experience. The University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts (CLA) has embarked on an ambitious initiative in collaboration with the GREATER MSP Partnership. Their shared objective is transforming the Twin Cities into a prominent national destination for college internships.
GREATER MSP aids businesses in expanding or relocating to the Twin Cities region and has recently introduced an internship hub to motivate employers to establish a greater number of high-quality internship opportunities within the Twin Cities area. Its primary mission is to foster economic growth, attract businesses, and enhance the overall economic vitality of the Twin Cities metropolitan area. GREATER MSP is pivotal in connecting businesses, government agencies, educational institutions, and community stakeholders to drive economic prosperity and create a favorable environment for businesses to thrive. This hub encompasses a complimentary internship toolkit developed by CLA, which offers valuable guidance on commencing or expanding undergraduate internship programs for employers.
In Minnesota, more than 200,000 students are enrolled in undergraduate institutions, significantly surpassing the available internship positions.
The advantages of college internships are well-documented. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), “internships yield the highest return on investment as a recruitment strategy for employers, surpassing the effectiveness of career fairs, on-campus visits, on-campus panels, and other initiatives.” Additionally, “70% of interns are hired at the same company they interned with following their internship” (Zippia). This demonstrates the significant impact that internships have on the employment landscape and the mutual benefits they offer to interns and the companies that host them. It reflects the valuable investment that internships represent for employers and interns, offering a well-defined pathway for talent acquisition and career development.
Despite the evident benefits of internships for college students and employers, a significant two-thirds of students nationwide do not participate in internship programs. Obstacles to participation may include fierce competition for paid positions, financial and familial obligations, or limited access to information about identifying and accessing internship opportunities. Unpaid internships, prevalent even within for-profit enterprises, are often accessible only to students with preexisting financial resources.
The deficiency of paid internship openings also has detrimental consequences for employers. In the Twin Cities metropolitan area, around 50,000 job openings require less than one year of professional experience. Paradoxically, there frequently exists a disparity between students’ experience levels and the expectations of employers seeking entry-level candidates. Thus, offering paid internships that furnish a broader range of students with practical experience becomes imperative.
Dayana Lopez-Martinez, an alumna of CLA and Talent Resources Generalist at the Minnesota Children’s Museum, leverages an internship program to cultivate a more diverse workforce. She has made substantial progress in recruiting interns from diverse backgrounds through strategies such as targeted recruitment efforts at institutions like CLA, where approximately 40 percent of the student body comprises individuals from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, including Indigenous students.
CLA’s internship toolkit for employers encompasses a range of strategies to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion within the Twin Cities job market. Drawing upon CLA’s extensive experience as the largest and most diverse undergraduate college within the University of Minnesota, the toolkit provides valuable insights for achieving these vital objectives.
