How to Hire a Middlebury College

InternUrsula Olender

Director of Career Advising and Employer Relations

Dee GilbertAssistant Director of Employer Relations

and Outreach

▪ College students and Vermont

▪ What makes a successful and meaningful internship

▪ Before, during, and after the internship

▪ Posting and recruiting

Agenda

In addition to enriching the undergraduate experience, Vermont-related initiatives can:

• Facilitate a path for college graduates to stay in Vermont for post-grad employment.

• Contribute to a more robust Vermont economy.

Vermont Initiatives

10% of our students have identified Vermont as a geographic preference for jobs and internships.

Many of our graduates remain in Vermont for employment or grad school.

Approximately 2,000 alumni live in Vermont.

Middlebury students provide approximately 50,000 volunteer service hours annually in Vermont.

The Numbers

A typical internship:▪ Includes developing intentional learning objective goals that are structured into the experience and

supervised by a professional with relevant and related background in the field.▪ Promotes academic, career and/or personal development.▪ Balances the intern’s learning goals with the organization’s needs.▪ Involves industry related and soft skill development.▪ Provides adequate supervision in a reasonably safe environment with the necessary tools to

perform the learning goals agreed upon for the duration of the internship.

An Internship is NOT:▪ Free help.▪ Meant to replace an employee.▪ More than 20% busy work (filing, covering phone, errands).

What is an Internship

Middlebury College’s class of 2023 offers wide range of talents● Members of the incoming class are from 42 states, Washington, D.C., and 56 countries. ● 11% are the first in their families to attend college● 27% are students of color and 12% of the class are international students

And what aboutGeneration Z?

Source: EY

Who are the Interns

Skills Sought by Employers

Very Important* Skills for Recent College Graduates We Are Hiring

Fulfilling the American Dream: Liberal Education and the Future of Work/2018 Employers Survey

The National Association of Colleges and Employers defines career readiness as the attainment and demonstration of requisite competencies that broadly prepare college graduates for a successful transition into the workplace.

● Critical Thinking/Problem Solving● Oral/Written Communications● Teamwork/Collaboration● Digital Technology● Leadership● Professionalism/Work Ethic● Career Management● Global/Intercultural Fluency

Career Readiness Competencies

▪ Thoughtful training and orientation

▪ Meaningful and challenging projects

▪ Development of goals and objectives and a specific plan to meet them

▪ Regular meetings with the intern to provide guidance and constructive feedback

▪ Opportunities to interact with others

What Makes an Internship Great

“… I was able to shadow numerous clinicians during their clinics or grab coffee with them and learn about their experience in their field and their journey that led them to where they were today. This was something that I found to be the most influential aspect of my internship because I was able to meet women in the field that I desired to be in, and these connections helped me to set goals for what I would like to do in the future with my career.”

Determine if your organization is ready for an intern.

What does your organization hope to gain?

What are the tools and workspace necessary to provide the student

Who will be primarily responsible for the intern(s). Will that person be a mentor, supervisor or both? Do they have time?

Before the Internship Begins

● Paint a picture of the position

● Describe the work environment

● Outline the day-to-day duties

○ Keep language gender-neutral/gender-inclusive

○ Use descriptive adverbs

○ Clearly describe what you would consider success in this role

● Requirements

● Compensation

● Choose a title for the position

Before the Internship Begins

Develop a Clearly Defined Job Description

Our internship program is designed to launch your career as a digital marketing strategist. This is a paid internship in the heart of Kendall Square’s thriving tech scene. You’ll work directly with brands on real world projects.

Highlights● Opportunity to grow at a fast moving company● Fun work environment with entrepreneurial people● Ability to run your own projects● Gain real world experience● Earn Google certifications

“I was able to get my hands dirty on client projects within days of starting at Fire&Spark. The work I did during my internship prepared me to excel in my role as a full-time analyst at Fire&Spark.” - Noah G. (fall 2018 intern)

“I was thrilled when I was given challenging and meaningful work on my first day as an intern. On top of this, I have found it to be a fast-paced but supportive work environment. Everyone around you wants you to succeed.” - Auden E. (summer 2019 intern)

TrainingOur training program includes three components that combine to accelerate your learning opportunities and career growth.

1. Pairing with a senior digital strategist - Weekly one-on-one meetings with an experienced marketer to guide your learning and get your questions answered.

2. Hands-on work with our clients - You will work directly with our brand name or startup clients, delivering analytical market research and digital campaign management services.

3. Learning materials and certifications - Our structured curriculum is designed to help you acquire the knowledge you need to excel as a digital marketing analyst

Specific learning objectives: web analytics, search engine optimization, written/oral communication, content marketing, market research and Amazon marketing.

Our team is looking for interns who are passionate about learning digital marketing and enthusiastic about applying analytical methods to digital campaigns that benefit our clients.

We look for applicants who are detail oriented with phenomenal communication skills (written and verbal). If you like working with numbers in Excel to figure out what they mean then explaining your findings to a client, you might thrive in our internship. Our ideal candidate has the skillset of an investigative journalist -- s/he works hard to uncover the facts, figure out what they mean and explain the findings to others.

Digital Marketing Intern

You will work with nonprofit staff on important projects, build policy expertise and gain valuable professional development skills. This is an excellent opportunity to experience food and farming policy advocacy while working for a well-established, community-based nonprofit organization.Responsibilities:● Developing, designing, and maintaining resources for our website, blog, and farm to school resource site;● Collecting data on existing programs from teachers, administrators, and food service directors via surveys or phone interviews;● Developing comprehensive “healthy food environment” plans for schools and food pantries;● Conducting research on grant opportunities and partnerships;● Collaborating with staff on new ideas, directions, and venues for training and communications with local advocates (including

teachers, parents, school administrators and community members);● And, generally supporting the Food & Farming Policy Specialists as needed.

“I've adopted a set of skills during my time at Midd that allow me to take what I know, and apply it to other disciplines. I was able to utilize this skill in my internship on many different occasions.”

▪ Establish expectations during the interview process

▪ Discuss the objectives and goals of the position as part of the initial recruiting stage

▪ Determine who will be a mentor or coach for the intern –this may be someone besides their direct manager

NOTE: For Middlebury, an adequate number of weekly hours is 30-40 in summer, 25 during January term (four weeks) and 5 to 10 in fall and spring.

Before the Internship Begins

▪ Introduce the intern(s) to staff

▪ Review learning goals and revise if necessary

▪ Provide resources to the intern. Consider creating an intern handbook or guidelines sheet

▪ Set measurable timelines and goals and keep the intern accountable for reporting their progress against them

▪ Provide ongoing professional development opportunities when possible

▪ Provide feedback to the intern throughout the internship period

▪ Provide opportunities for intern to ask questions

During the Internship

▪ Provide feedback to the intern at the end of the internship and ask them for feedback as well.

▪ What did they enjoy the most? What would they suggest for the next intern?

▪ Take the time to learn about the intern’s experience and see if there are ways to improve the program. Give them time to reflect.

▪ Provide feedback to Middlebury. This will help us improve preparing our students for work in your organization.

After the Internship

Criteria for Internship Funding Eligibility

● Connects the work of an organization to the student’s career exploration, academic pursuits, and/or personal passions and interests, and aspirations for the future.

● Includes substantive responsibilities and minimum time commitments as outlined below:

○ $3000 Summer Funding Grants require a minimum internship length of 8 weeks at 30 hours/week or a longer internship that totals at least 240 hours.

○ $1000 First-Year Explore Grants require a minimum of 4 weeks with a total of at least 100 hours.

● Student must have secured the internship AND accepted it in order to apply.

● Student must have at least one remaining semester after the summer in order to apply; must not be on leave (unless it is Study Abroad) the semester prior to or after the summer internship unless approved by CCI.

● Student must not have already received a $3000 competitive grant from CCI, or be participating in a CCI-sponsored program or internship this summer.

▪ Post the internship on our posting platform, Handshake

▪ Advisors will promote the posting to students during advising sessions, through newsletters/blogs, and targeted email

▪ You will review applications in Handshake

▪ You will select students to interview▪ Phone/video interviews▪ In-Person interviews

▪ Make offer and hire

Posting the Opportunity

Posting in Handshake

1. Visit https://app.joinhandshake.com/register

2. Select the Employer account type from the options

3. Fill out the information requested then click Sign Up

4. Enter your recruiting interests and Alma Mater, then click Next: Employer Guidelines:

5. Review the Employer Guidelines, check yes or no to the 3rd party recruiter question and click Next: Confirm Email

6. When the email arrives, click the Confirm Emailbutton to verify your account.

Vermont Handshake Schools:

Middlebury CollegeSaint Michael’s CollegeBennington CollegeChamplain CollegeUniversity of Vermont

OR

Step-by-step instructions and videos on the

Questions

Thank You!

Dee Gilbert, Assistant Director of Employer Relations & Outreach802.443.5665 | dgilbert@middlebury.edu

Karen White, Internship Coordinator802.443.5247 | white@middlebury.edu

Ursula Olender, Director of Career Advising and Employer Relations802.443.5107 | uolender@middlebury.edu

Contact Us!

Association of American Colleges and Universities. Fulfilling the American dream: Liberal education and the future of work.Retrieved from https://www.aacu.org/research/2018-future-of-work.

Center for Careers and Internship at Middlebury College. For Employers. Retrieved from http://www.middlebury.edu/student-life/creativity-innovation-exploration/engagement-careers/careers-and-internships/employers.

Deloitte. Understanding Generation Z in the workplace. Retrieved from https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/consumer-business/articles/understanding-generation-z-in-the-workplace.html.

Merriman, M., How contradictions define Generation Z: EY research uncovers disting Gen Z segment that employers and business leaders need to know. Retrieved from https://www.ey.com/en_us/advisory/how-contradictions-define-generation-z?.

Wilkie, D. Generation Z says they work the hardest, but only when they want to. SHRM. Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-relations/pages/gen-z-worries-about-work-skills.aspx.

References and Resources