Last year the Business Department began a formalized approach to its student internship program.
The Department is a member of area chambers of commerce, including Elizabethtown, Harrisburg, Lancaster, York, Hershey and Reading.
“We work with the chambers and get a list of their businesses because we’re a member,” said Dr. Sylvester Williams, associate professor of business law and the chair of the Business Department, who heads the internship program along with Lisa Rosenberger, Business Department administrative assistant. Each member company is catalogued into categories in a database in the Department.
Once these businesses are in the system, Williams’ team begins contacting them to ask about internship programs for E-town students. The College develops a formal agreement with the members of the chambers of commerce in which they agree to help our students have an internship with their company, Williams said.
The Department also sponsors individual projects with contracted companies for experience in the field. Rather than participate in an internship for a few months, students can opt to work on a project which can require between 10 and 20 hours of work.
Williams said that the program offers paid and unpaid internships for students and sponsors chamber mixers several times a semester to help students network with company representatives. The program is reserved for business majors; however, Williams said, if they come across opportunities for other majors, they share that information with the appropriate departments.
The department also sends out brochures to interested companies. These fliers are full of handy information for companies to familiarize themselves with the program. They explain the program and the real-world learning objectives it fulfills. They also provide contact information for Williams and Rosenberger.
It takes time to develop relationships. So that’s what we’re working for.”
Currently, the Business Department has about 70 companies signed up with the internship program. “The goal is to have more companies signed up than we have students, so that students can have at least one and maybe even two opportunities in the four years,” said Williams. “We are very aggressive about trying to develop real-world learning opportunities …” The department hopes to raise the number of member companies to 100 by next fall.
Julia Dasher, a junior business major and an alumna of the program, works for Penn State Hershey Technology Development, gaining experience in business writing and statistical research.
“My internship has been a really good experience,” Dasher said. “Lisa (Rosenberger) was very helpful with getting me this internship and spent quite a few hours assisting me to get my resume up to par.” Rosenberger also offered Dasher advice and helped her prepare for her interviews.
Dasher’s internship took place this past summer, and Penn State Hershey invited her to return to work with them during the fall 2013 semester. She will be working with the company until November.
“What we’re really trying to do is have long-term relationships with the companies,” said Williams. “So I’m not trying to do something that is just one time and that’s it.” The department’s goal is to have the relationships this program begins continue for years after a student’s internships are over. “It works. I’ve done this before,” said Williams. “But it takes time to develop relationships. So that’s what we’re working for.”