One of Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ’s strongest draws for incoming students is the internship program—and for good reason. Symbiotic in nature between businesses and students, the three internship requirement leads to unparalleled professional experiences for Gulls all over the globe.
Building on a long history of success, the program continues to grow, strengthening the College’s brand as an institution of experiential learning, and benefitting our students, who are landing exciting, hands-on roles with companies ranging from large household names to community providers.
Now more than ever, companies are hiring from their intern pool—former interns have and allow a company to “test drive” a prospective employee without the risk involved in a full-time hire. Not only do students boost their hireability (completing an internship increases job offers by 16%, ), while expanding their networks, but they also get a chance to collect a set of experiences that help them learn more about themselves and their goals.
“For the past 10 years, 98% of our students have been employed or in college six months after graduation,” noted Brenda Campbell, Senior Director of Employer Relations. “While the business environment changes, this number has remained consistent because of the multiple internships, the professional development, and building of the network that Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ offers.”
National recognition for extraordinary interns
Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ’s glowing reputation within higher education and business circles for a strong experiential learning model is still expanding, according to Campbell. Because Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ students are required to find their own internships, she explained, they learn the skills needed to sell themselves, and the results are confident students who are making strong impressions.
“Our students receive layers of support to navigate internships, ultimately deciding on the best fit themselves in order to build on each experience to grow and push further towards their career path,” said Campbell. “They’re walking in very experienced and are willing to do the hard work, and it pays off. We’ve heard it from many companies—including top employers like PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP—and I think that’s getting more and more well known locally, nationally, and internationally.”
In the 2020-21 academic year, Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ students had 1,687 internships across 1,464 internship sites that spanned 30 states, Washington, D.C., and 12 international locations.
Boston-based fitness training company is a fast-growing global brand currently expanding from digital sales into experience-based retail storefronts. NOBULL Recruiter Jessica DiPhilippo said that Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ students tend to display many of the skills the company is looking for in applicants.
“When we’re hiring, we benchmark core competencies like execution, communication skills, resourcefulness, and ability to problem solve, as well as leadership and character traits,” DiPhilippo explained. “I think Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ does a really good job of preparing students across those areas so they are able to excel once they get here. They showcase really well.”
The symbiotic hiring pipeline
The buzzword in hiring today is “pipeline”—as in, cultivate a steady influx of interns who can learn about a company and gain experience before smoothly transitioning to a full-time hire after graduation.
“We see a lot of big, well-known companies hiring for a pipeline,” said Campbell. “They’re not just hiring an intern. They’re hiring to try them out to offer them a full-time job.”
Wayfair, for example, has hired interns exclusively from Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ to work in their interior architecture division since 2018. This collaborative partnership has resulted in the company employing 25 Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ alumni—a strong pipeline that benefits both Wayfair and Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ design students.
Andy Freed, CEO of Virtual Inc in Wakefield, Mass., takes Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ interns every cycle.
“We love Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ interns. They bring smarts, but they also bring pragmatism. They’re able to roll up their sleeves and get the work done. That’s why, when you look around our office today, some of the folks that started out as Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ interns are still here today as employees.”
Being supported in their search for strong internship placements as students means Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ grads have the best opportunities post-graduation, and it also means that the companies involved gain a valuable group of hardworking learners.
Supportive Living, Inc. (SLI) is a local non-profit healthcare organization with a mission to improve the quality of life of people affected by brain injury and other neurological disorders. SLI fully staffs its Neuro-fit Gloucester and Marblehead sites with interns from Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ College, who lead individualized adaptive exercise sessions with patients with staff supervision.
Lindsay Weir, Neuro-Wellness Manager and Internship Supervisor at SLI and adjunct professor at Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ, said the SLI model doesn’t work without interns, who are the “secret sauce” that makes it possible to offer the one-on-one support to patients that is the key to the program’s success.
Similarly, DiPhilippo said interns carry a lot of responsibility in critical roles at NOBULL, which bolsters smaller teams who are operating lean.
“For example, it’s pretty remarkable that we’re able to do the events and all of the activations that we do, because our sports marketing, partnerships, and events teams are very small, even with our recent growth,” she explained. “So, these interns are carrying a lot of weight. We put a lot of trust in them and give them autonomy to get the job done.”
Cultivating alumni connections
The power of connection is significant within the internship program, which relies on networking relationships with alumni to build professional bridges. Campbell believes that because so many alumni love Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ, they are more open to returning to campus and meeting current students.
“So many alumni would love to see more Gulls work in their workplace,” she said. “I think the more you can bring an alum back to tell their story, to share their career—where they went and how they did it—the more doors are going to be opened.”
81% of employed Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ alumni say their internship prepared them for their role in their first job.
NOBULL has so many Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ alumni working there that it’s become a bit of an inside joke, all thanks to connections and networking. Former Gulls at the company include Chief Marketing Officer Todd Meleney ’10, Senior Loyalty Marketing Manager Casey Arnold ’14, Director of Brand Marketing Jedediah Magnusson ’15, Business Intelligence Manager Grant Garrity ’19, and Director of Distribution Chris Yonuss ’15.
Ryan Atkins ’23, a senior business marketing major, has been interning with NOBULL since July 2022 and will start in August as a full-time Marketing Coordinator. Atkins secured her internship position through a connection with Arnold, who in addition to working at NOBULL is an entrepreneur who won the 2022 Spark Tank competition with a pitch to expand her business, Big Ass Iced Coffee.
Atkins reached out to Arnold as part of her search for a semester-long internship position, and the two unexpectedly met at Spark Tank not long after.
“At the competition, she came up and introduced herself to me after watching my pitch,” explained Atkins. “She said she really liked my drive, that I had a very strong portfolio and resume, and she thought I could be a really good fit at NOBULL. Casey and I are great friends now, our teams work closely together so it’s a lot of fun.”
And the network continues to expand. Atkins’ roommate Kylie Breen ’23 became interested in the company after seeing how positive Atkins’ experience was and secured her own position in a Growth Marketing co-op.
“I absolutely love working for NOBULL,” Breen said. “I have now had four internship experiences while at Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ, and working with this company has been by far my favorite opportunity. The company culture is truly what drives people to be so passionate about their work.”
Why do Gulls seem to fit so well at NOBULL?
Garrity says he sees a connection between the small, tight-knit community of Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ and the growing company.
“The work we do here holds serious weight being a smaller company,” he shared. “Everything is always moving fast around you, forcing you to grow, get out of your comfort zone, and work efficiently. In a start-up workplace, that sense of intimacy remains and is just a totally different experience from a more corporate company.”
Finding a career fit
A less quantitative measurement of success in internships is the full value of the experience for students beyond learning professional skills. This might entail exposure to new groups of people or situations, which provide important opportunities for self-reflection, or showing students the realities of the career path they’ve set themselves on.
School of Sport Science Clinical Coordinator Kelsey Taylor said working at SLI gives students a fresh look at potential careers that they might not have previously considered.
“Exercise science students who chose Supportive Living as an internship are often looking for a site that has a population different from some of the traditional outpatient settings,” she said. “SLI’s Neuro-Fit program provides our students with a unique opportunity for hands-on learning and to deepen their understanding of why exercise is a valuable treatment for patients with or recovering from a neurological disorder/disabilities.”
Exercise science major Elspeth Olney ’22 discovered her passion for occupational therapy (OT) when she interned with SLI in the fall of 2021. After a disappointing experience at a previous internship in a physical therapy (PT) office, Olney began to worry that PT might not be a good career fit for her.
“My time at SLI showed me how important it is to work with people on movements they complete in their daily activities, which at times can be the smallest of things like grabbing a doorknob and opening the door,” Olney shared. “The thought of helping someone be able to return to activities of daily living excited me so much more than PT ever had. Because of that, I switched to OT instead of PT and I am attending MGH starting this summer in the doctorate of Occupational Therapy program.”
In addition to helping Olney find her passion, the internship at SLI proved to be a memorable experience because of the connections she made with patients.
“I never knew a place could have such an impact on me and I continued to go back to visit after finishing my official time with them,” she shared. “This internship was extremely meaningful and will stick with me for a lifetime. It was amazing to be able to work with individuals who have endured such traumatic injuries and continue to step forward each day.”
Abby Sirois ’23, an exercise science major, had a similar experience at SLI.
“It felt great to be gaining experience and learning while also helping people in the community,” she said. “My patients were awesome and you could tell how much they appreciated the work I was doing to help them. It was very rewarding to hear them say thank you and how much this meant to them.”
Direct benefits to a local population like this are a perfect example of what a respected internship program like Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ’s can build within a community—and when paired with meaningful experiences for the interns themselves, it’s a win-win.