Last month, WTIA’s Workforce Development initiative created a subcommittee to help Washington State’s small and mid-sized technology companies develop internship programs by partnering with institutions of higher learning.

As part of the effort, the new Workforce Development Internship Subcommittee conducted a survey last fall about internship experiences and needs among these businesses.

The survey found:

• 35 percent of respondents routinely use interns.
• 52 percent of all respondents would like to hire fewer than 20 interns per year.

Among this group:

• 58 percent try to hire 1 to 5 interns a year.
• 67 percent are considered informal, ad hoc, and successful programs.

Companies that routinely use interns reported sources for candidates include:

• Washington State universities and colleges, through job fairs and job boards. (73 percent of respondents used this source.)
• Employee referrals (56 percent).
• Employer job postings (15 percent).
• Out-of-state university and college job fairs and job boards (12 percent).
• WTIA Job Fair (5 percent).
• Other organized job fairs (5 percent).

The survey identified three main challenges that companies face when starting or expanding an internship program:

1. Lack of experience operating an internship program.
2. Lack of funding and internal resources to manage an internship program and/or hire Interns.
3. Lack of human resources, recruiting, legal, on-boarding or management processes.

(Survey results are based on 58 responses.)

Now, the WTIA subcommittee is creating a program that will address barriers to development of internship programs. This program will be an online resource center for technology-driven businesses that plan to choose fewer than 20 interns per year. The center will provide information about:

• University resources for recruiting interns, such as job fairs.
• Sourcing and recruiting of candidates.
• Labor law compliance.
• Best practices in managing intern programs and interns, providing meaningful work, and creating value for a company.
• Converting interns to full-time employees.

The Workforce Development Internship Subcommittee will begin identifying resources and funding for this program early in the second quarter. The full survey and responses are available upon request. Questions and suggestions are welcome. Please contact: careyebutler@gmail.com