For the past year-and-a-half, we have seen a massive shift to virtual and hybrid work among major companies throughout the United States. For most of these companies, this past summer brought a new challenge: rethinking fun and innovative ways to work with interns. Needing to revise internship programs, companies have come up with new, creative ideas to keep their interns connected and engaged while working in an online or hybrid environment. RippleMatch spoke with eleven different internship recruiters about the things they did this year in order to create exciting programs amidst all of the challenges.
CBIZ
CBIZ provides “top-level” financial benefits and insurance services to various organizations. This summer, interns had a hybrid internship experience, with a representative at CBIZ saying “we wanted to make them feel special.” Interns had virtual game nights and happy hours, an intern boat cruise, virtual networking, and received a lot of CBIZ gear. CBIZ said: “On National Intern Day, many offices celebrated our teammates with food, drinks, leadership shout outs, and in-office celebrations.” Interns were given a mentor and were able to go on field trips to different CBIZ offices. Each week, interns attended sessions hosted by CBIZ’s Learning & Development Team to talk about networking and navigating a virtual workforce. Interns were also able to participate in a book club session discussing “Atomic Habits” by James Clear.
Chicago Trading Company (CTC)
The Chicago Trading Company (CTC) is a proprietary trading firm founded in 1995. To kick off the program,each CTC intern received a swag box with CTC t-shirts and Garrett’s popcorn. Interns also attended different virtual social events such as a Paint & Sip party, murder mystery game, and a Chicago scavenger hunt. CTC also brought all interns to their Chicago office to present their final projects at the end of the program, as well as attend a sightseeing tour of the city including an architecture tour, going up to the Sky Deck at Willis Tower, and a Cubs rooftop event with other CTC employees. CTC provided interns with virtual and in-person networking opportunities with their employees, education through their Basic Options class and Mock Trading, and other means of support such as project leads, career managers, and buddies.
Danone North America
Danone North America, one of the top food and beverage companies in the United States, is dedicated to sharing their commitment to “purpose, growth, and good food.” All of their summer interns received a B-Corp themed swag bag complete with Patagonia 1/4 Zips and S’Well water bottles along with other goodies. They stayed connected by attending coffee chats with Danone’s executive officers, as well as through virtual scavenger hunts and mocktail hours. To promote their success, interns were paired with a mentor, met with executives, participated in a B-Corp crash course, and attended an interviewing and resume workshop and a Danone Crash Course.
dentsu
A modern marketing solutions company, dentsu had a summer internship experience that was nine weeks long and one hundred percent virtual. Interns started off the summer by receiving a dentsu Summer Experience Swag Box with a shirt, notepad, water bottle, sticker, and pen. They continued the summer by attending onboarding webinars and working on a real client brief that they presented to clients at the end of the summer. Interns were split into teams which competed against each other in front of their clients and a panelist at the end of their program, with the winning team announced at their Internship Graduation. Interns were also provided with networking events, webinars with various leaders, mentorship programs, and dentsu University learning courses and trainings.
Figma
Figma, a company that offers their own collaborative interface design tool, treated their interns to a number of fun experiences this summer. Interns received new hire swag and participated in events such as a virtual escape room, virtual farm tour, and icebreakers in FigJam, Figma’s own whiteboard product. They also had their own social media takeover for National Intern Day. Interns were assigned a mentor on their immediate team and a buddy from an adjacent team for general support. They also attended “ask me anything” AMA sessions hosted by The Early Career Team, which featured various leaders including the CEO and design director.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is one of the world’s largest tire companies. Goodyear Summer 2021 interns attended virtual and in-person events such as an all-intern cook-out, a meeting with the CEO and Senior Leadership Team, volunteer opportunities with other Goodyear Associates and a tour of one of Goodyear’s manufacturing facilities. Interns had several opportunities to hear from leaders throughout the company and talk about key initiatives and upcoming projects during their virtual roundtables. Interns were also provided with the opportunity to network with associates of all levels, Q&A events featuring Goodyear’s CEO, various roundtable events, and different trainings related directly to each intern’s field of study.
Halliburton
Halliburton prides itself on being “one of the world’s largest providers of products and services for the ever-evolving needs of the energy industry.” This past summer, Halliburton interns had virtual game nights complete with snacks shipped to their homes and “Weekly Water cooler Chats” hosted by the company. Interns also received welcome boxes full of stickers, t-shirts, sunglasses, socks, and a welcome note. To further their professional development, interns were given “Hal Pals,” mentors with one-to-three years of experience in their field, monthly “Lunch & Learn” events with various leaders, and the ability to give final presentations for their entire department to view.
Hilti
Hilti is a power tool company providing researched-backed tools and services. Hilti had numerous virtual events for their interns this summer, such as a Virtual Volunteer Day, Trivia Thursdays, and virtual happy hours. Interns were brought together in-person for final presentations and group activities that included PinStack, TopGolf, and an escape room. Each intern also received gifts throughout the summer. Hilti ensured the success of their interns by paring them with former interns and forming various committees for networking, professional development, DE&I, and more, as well as, hosting a speaker series on topics such as “Life After College” and “Women in Leadership” and giving interns the opportunity to take leadership roles to promote engagement.
JLL
A company concentrating in commercial real estate and property investment, JLL provided their Summer 2021 interns with many opportunities for networking. learning and fun. Interns participated in virtual chats, virtual and in-person networking, virtual learning, and also had access to LinkedIn Learning to extend their development beyond the internship itself.
Navistar, Inc.
Navistar, Inc. is an Illinois-based leader in the trucksand transport services industry. Interns this past summer received custom welcome boxes with branded swag and were able to attend various virtual and in-person events: speed “Friending,” a social networking event to meet other interns, Navistar “Ride & Drive” where interns got to drive International trucks, and weekly “Office Hours” where interns could get the latest information and ask questions. Interns were also given the opportunity to network with Navistar Young Professionals, attend leadership speaker panels to have all of their early career questions answered, and participate in a resume review with Navistar’s talent acquisition team. Navistar Inc. also provided interns with technical training, workshops including topics such as “Building Your Personal Brand,” and Corporate and Technical mentor partnerships.
Okta
A company specializing in the safe use of technology, Okta brings “simple and secure access to people and organizations everywhere.” Summer 2021 interns received a welcome box filled with company goodies as well as a National Intern Appreciation Day box filled with even more gifts. Interns were able to attend social events like a Bob Ross Paint Night, trivia, and a virtual murder myster game. As for career development, Okta interns participated in a virtual volunteer event, various “Lunch & Learn” events, an Executive Speaker series, and used an app called Donut which randomly paired interns for bi-weekly virtual chats.
From virtual escape rooms to virtual networking, these eleven companies created innovative and exciting opportunities for their summer interns to guarantee an unforgettable experience, ensuring that online or hybrid internships don’t have to be all that dull.