Nobody starts out as an expert.
In fact, many of the groundbreaking tech innovators we admire today didn’t come into the industry swinging with a revolutionary idea built in their parents’ garage. It took years of trial and error, mentorships, internal reflection and diverse experiences to empower them to make a difference through their work.
A shared launching point in many of their journeys? A stellar internship program.
Internship programs within a company exist for many reasons: To allow managers to become mentors, to encourage students to think dynamically and harness real-world experiences, to build a pipeline to fill open roles with fresh talent, and more. But internship programs are also about establishing relationships and sharing knowledge to create a better future.
“The internships are about a lot more than just the three months at Movable Ink,” said Carly Laniado, director of recruiting at the marketing performance company. “They become part of the company’s fabric — we’re really invested in giving them the foundation and connections to succeed in their careers and down the line.”
At job resource platform Handshake, it’s also a shared value of “students first” that powers the company’s mission and culture. What does that look like in action? “We host workshops on career pathing, financial wellness, effective communication, stress management and more,” said Stephanie Warton, an early career and DEI program manager.
After all, an internship shouldn’t just be an excuse for college credit, but a guiding resource for up-and-coming innovators in the industry. That’s why Built In caught up with Warton and Laniado to learn more about their upcoming internship programs, what exciting projects interns will work on and all the ways their programs have helped launch successful careers for previous participants.
Tell us a little bit about the internship program at Handshake.
Handshake’s intern program is structured around several pillars that embody our company values. This program aims to ensure interns have meaningful and high-impact projects, regular feedback, a dedicated manager to provide mentorship, and social connection with fellow interns and the larger Handshake community via employee resource groups. We also include interns in donuts, company-wide events such as the Pride bake-off, and intern-specific programming and workshops around things such as financial skills, effective workplace communication and how to think about career development.
Handshake’s culture is fueled by our value of “Empowered by diversity.” To align with this pillar, interns have the opportunity while at Handshake to attend ERG events that celebrate diverse voices and identities, attend coffee chats to foster relationships with individuals across the organization, and take part in intern-specific social events like virtual escape rooms.
“Learn. Grow. Repeat.” is the pillar that drives our growth mindset. Aligning with this, every intern that joins Handshake is paired with a dedicated intern manager who provides one-on-one guidance and mentorship for the duration of the program.
What are some of the coolest projects your interns have gotten to participate in?
Another one of our pillars is “Focus on impact.” This compels us to center our internships around high-impact projects: enabling early-in-career talent to get a realistic view of what it’s like to work in their desired field.
For example, a software engineer intern worked on a specific feature of our Virtual Career Fairs product and was able to drive it to production by the end of the internship program.
A social content intern developed and led an engaging Instagram Live series that provided early career jobseekers with resume and interviewing best practices. She also played a key role in launching and growing Handshake’s TikTok presence.
A data science intern worked on a project that increased the amount of students that followed new employers by 28 percent. Another data science intern had a DEI-focused project looking to drive equitable outcomes for Black and HBCU students, and made recommendations on a strategy for how Handshake can use its influence in the market to drive better outcomes for those students.
Handshake is committed to ensuring that every student, regardless of background, has the same opportunity to thrive in their career.”
How have your internship programs helped your interns grow professionally and kickstart successful careers?
Our final pillar and value of “Students first” is what powers our mission, product and culture. Handshake is committed to ensuring that every student, regardless of background, has the same opportunity to thrive in their career. So it’s really important that we set all of our interns up for success with resources that they can use while at Handshake, or wherever their journeys take them.
Every year, Handshake’s recruiting team provides resume writing and interviewing support to our intern cohort. One intern had done impactful work while at Handshake, but they were challenged on how to communicate their accomplishments on their resume and in interviews. After a one-on-one session with a Handshake recruiter, the intern felt empowered to speak to their accomplishments and tell their story. Upon graduating, they ended up landing a full-time role at one of their dream companies, and reached back out to that Handshake recruiter to thank them for their support.
Tell us a little bit about the internship program at Movable Ink.
We’re excited to offer our second ever, ten-week, fully remote internship program this summer. Geared toward current college students and recent graduates interested in learning more about the start-up and technology space, our internship program enables interns to get a glimpse into the industry before committing themselves to full-time employment upon graduation. Interns will have the opportunity to work alongside one of 10 departments, including partnerships, marketing, sales, business development, corporate communications, go-to-market enablement, engineering, solutions consulting, information security and recruiting.
Throughout the program, interns will participate in job shadowing, various department-specific trainings and networking activities, in addition to resume and interview workshops. Movable Ink also will host a weekly speaker series with our executive team so that interns can learn a bit more about their backgrounds, day-to-day roles and responsibilities, and have the opportunity to ask any questions they may have. Our internship will commence with a final group project, where they will showcase major learnings during a company-wide town hall.
What are some of the coolest projects your interns have gotten to participate in?
Last year was our inaugural internship program. The final summer end presentation was definitely a very memorable experience. We asked the intern class to think about what other opportunities there are for Movable Ink and present their thoughts during a virtual town hall. Last summer’s intern group presented the possibility of using Movable Ink’s personalization technology to create onboarding emails for new hires. They successfully identified an opportunity for Movable Ink to play in the human resources tech space. No major product updates have been made yet but it was an engaging, fun and viral presentation!
The best part — they thought outside the box and related it to their own experiences.
Last summer’s intern group successfully identified an opportunity for Movable Ink to play in the human resources tech space.”
How have your internship programs helped your interns grow professionally and kickstart successful careers?
In addition to working with the various departments across the organization, we also make it a priority to help our interns with job readiness which includes LinkedIn workshops, resume reviews and interviewing AMAs (ask me anything) with various subject matter experts across the company. Our interns are encouraged to actively participate in networking events and meet numerous Inkers with expertise across the technology industry. We are excited to even have a former intern returning for the summer 2022 program!
For us, the internships are about a lot more than just the three months at Movable Ink. They become part of the company’s fabric and build relationships that last well beyond their last day. In fact, we helped a former intern land a new internship this summer at a Fortune 500 tech company. We’re really invested in giving them the foundation and connections to succeed in their careers and down the line.
