You Can’t Pay Rent in ‘Experience’
Overall Goal
To give every student attending a Virginia college the opportunity for one paid internship without extending the time their degree takes to complete
Our Task
Tailor and target messaging of the employer marketing program
We were given a secondary task of refining the employer recognition program, however in order to tackle the goal as efficiently as possible we focused on this task of tailoring and targeting messaging
Methodology
Overall Research Objective
Determine why exactly certain employers do not want to hire paid interns
Social Listening
Examined internship postings from LinkedIn, Handshake, and Indeed, along with discussions on various subreddits, to uncover trends in employer expectations and intern priorities
Literature reviews
Analyzed public data and research on internships, job growth, academia, and Virginia's business landscape to understand how they stand now and how they have evolved over time
Street interviews
Conducted street interviews with students seeking internships and employers hiring interns to understand their motivations, challenges, and experiences in the internship process
In-depth interviews
Talked with large employers, Small to medium businesses, nonprofits, and public officials to explore their experiences with internship programs, including hiring processes, program structures, productivity, barriers, and resource utilization
Interviewees divided by category
‘Everyone’ is Not a Target Audience
The Target:
McGuireWoods and the Virginia Business Higher Education Council were focusing on five audiences of businesses, Large, Small to Medium (SMB), High Growth, Public Sector/Nonprofit, Public officials
To avoid the mixed messaging and inefficiency that would come with immediately focusing on all these targets, we focused in on the one audience with the greatest potential, SMBs
This accounts for 99.5% of all businesses in Virginia
76.5% of all Virginians are employed by SMBs
This group covers the widest array of industries, allowing for students across all academic majors to find internships suited to their skillsets
Round and Round it Goes
Findings:
While we found SMBs to have the greatest potential for success, we also found them to be the most wary audience for 3 key reasons
A lack of resources (time, funding, staffing)
A lack of experience managing interns or internship programs
Emotional barriers such as a fear of failure or mismanagement
This formed what we dubbed the internship aversion cycle. A self fulfilling cycle where without resources, they don’t gain experience; without experience, they remain hesitant; and their hesitation prevents them from gaining experience needed to gain confidence
Less of a Pep Talk, More of a How-To
Strategic Recommendations:
To break SMBs free from the internship aversion cycle, we aimed to address each point within it, while focusing in more intently on the lack of experience
Resources
Many SMBs cited funding issues but were unaware of existing programs like the WIOA program, which grant funding for interns. This highlights the need for aggressive marketing in anything done, as SMBs struggle yet often do not actively seek out solutions
Despite many SMBs citing time constraints, most SMBs with interns believe that their interns are beneficial. They streamline processes, free up staff, and serve as a pipeline for future hires. Messaging will need to showcase success stories, as this will be crucial in addressing all of these time-related concerns
Experience
The main outcome of this lack of experience was a lack of efficiency and that employers were hesitant to take the time and effort it takes to figure out how to run an efficient internship program
We would want to compile knowledge and resources from large employers with fully thought out programs in order to help minimize this lack of experience and get employers through the experience gap
Emotional Barriers
Right now, SMBs often feel wary, worried, and unconfident about interns and their ability to handle them. While the other recommendations would likely help with this, we specifically recommended that any messaging done needs to be reassuring, trustworthy, and confident, while also being aggressively pushed out
Less Hypotheticals, More Action
Tactical Recommendations:
Mentorship for SMB Internship Programs
Large businesses with established internship programs mentor SMBs to help them create successful internships
Expanding College Internship Credit
Advocate for colleges to accept more internships for credit, particularly from SMBs, to increase student participation
Hiring Young People for Youth-Focused Businesses
Make it clear that companies that are aiming to target young consumers need to hire young employees if they want to stay relevant and avoid stagnation
