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NEWS AND TRENDS FROM NORTHEAST OHIO’S TECHNOLOGY SECTOR
TECH MATTERS The intern advantage I n just a couple weeks, the new year will eclipse 2017, students will be streaming back onto college campuses, and businesses will be ramping up their first-quarter priorities — which include internship recruiting. The search for interns begins in January and peaks in March, followed by a small second bump in September, according to Burning Glass Technologies, a labor-market data research firm. Akron-based Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. falls into the latter time frame, which gives that global tire manufacturer ample time to curate the following summer’s group of bright and motivated interns from local and national colleges. “Goodyear has developed a very strong internship program over the last several years,” said Tifanie Botzer, Goodyear’s manager of Global Manufacturing IT Systems and intern mentor. In IT alone, Goodyear accepts about 20 paid full-time interns who, from May through August, gain experience in such areas as business process analysis, applications support and development, business intelligence, IT infrastructure and cybersecurity. The internship program serves as the main pipeline to the IT Development Program, which accepts about five to seven individuals per year in three, yearlong rotations within those tech-specific focus areas. (Goodyear also offers internship and development programs across other departments.) “It is a great way to have a 10- to 12-week interview with early associates who we can retain within the organization,” Botzer said. There’s a lot of value in seeing how interns collaborate with their teams and how they perform, she said. “For the interns themselves, it is also a fantastic development opportunity,” Botzer said. “They have the chance to build upon their classroom learning in an industry-leading organization, be mentored by experienced subject matter experts, work on current projects similar to other Goodyear associates, interact with business leaders through roundtables and networking events, and put themselves in an excellent position to potentially build into full-time associates.” Internship programs are valuable to employers for a multitude of reasons, primarily serving as mechanisms for talent incubation and project work help. Companies with internship programs also benefit from the added exposure to local colleges and universities, according to ERC and NOCHE’s 2017 Intern & Recent Graduate Pay Rates & Practices Survey. “Internship programs are more than a ‘try before you buy.’ We’ve started to see a movement
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From left, Louie Gigliotti, a Goodyear IT Development Program associate; Tifanie Botzer, Goodyear Global Manufacturing IT Systems manager and intern mentor; and Tom Petras, graduate of the Goodyear IT Development Program and senior business process analyst, discuss possible business applications for modern technology, such as mixed reality.
“Internship programs are more than a ‘try before you buy.’ We’ve started to see a movement away from the traditional use of interns for data entry or filing, to companies and organizations looking at internship programs as an investment in workforce development.” — Margaret Brinich, manager of surveys and research at ERC away from the traditional use of interns for data entry or filing, to companies and organizations looking at internship programs as an investment in workforce development,” said Margaret Brinich, manager of surveys and research at ERC. At Richfield-based OEC, for example, interns work on production code as part of the application development team, said Jennifer Schee, human resources director of the company, which makes ecommerce software for automotive dealerships. “We typically hire 40% of our interns,” added senior recruiter Amy Jacko. Throughout Northeast Ohio, various efforts are underway to facilitate strong internship programs. NOCHE, or the Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education, connects businesses with potential interns, co-ops and jobs through its online Northeast Ohio Talent Exchange matching platform. Meanwhile, the third annual Cleveland Internship Summit will be held Feb. 27 at Corporate College East, at which businesses and educators will convene to discuss ways to in-
crease the number and quality of internship opportunities in the region, said Shana Marbury, general counsel and senior vice president of education and workforce at the Greater Cleveland Partnership. Key issues to be discussed include generational diversity in the workplace, cross-generational collaboration, international student recruitment, intern hiring and workplace preparedness, pay and legal Marbury issues associated with internship recruitment. Greater Cleveland Partnership is ramping up its online GCP Internship Central site, which it says is a “one-stop” shop for employers and potential interns. The site features guidebooks for employers on how to create and manage internship programs and resources for students on how to search for, apply and maximize their internship experience. “We want to provide information that makes it easier and more efficient for companies and students,” Marbury said.
Giving back through mentorship A strong culture of mentorship within an organization is key to attracting and retaining young talent. At Beachwood-based Eaton Corp., various programs are in place to connect interns and new hires with professionals and leaders. Joanne A. Smith, manager of Early Talent Programs and Intern & Co-Op, explains in her own words how and why these mentorship programs are an Smith asset to the global power management company: BUDDY SYSTEM: Our Intern Buddy program is an informal program created to provide an opportunity for new hires to start to network and build professional relationships with other future talent. This not only welcomes them to Eaton, but it enables the interns to determine if Eaton is the right choice for their career. Interns are matched up with a “buddy,” or Leadership Development Program participant who is a recently hired full-time employee. If there is not a Leadership Development Program participant at their location, we then look for other common areas for them to connect, such as an alumnus of their school or member of a national diversity program. We provide the Eaton mentors with specific guidelines as well as talking points to support the new hire. The goal is for the mentor to reach out immediately to the intern and then meet with them on a regular basis. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Early Talent program managers also assign “buddies” to incoming new Leadership Development Program hires. Our IT program manager for the full-time hires, Nina Erney, matches second- and third-year Leadership Development Program participants with senior leaders, providing them more advanced support and guidance. Outside of the mentoring available to interns and Leadership Development Program participants who are early in their career, Eaton also has a formal mentoring program for professionals further down the career track. THE BOTTOM LINE: The Intern Buddy program provides us another touchpoint with the intern and feedback in regards to potential next steps for the intern at Eaton. The Leadership Development Program participants are thankful for being given a leadership role as an informal mentor, and the interns welcome the resource provided by their buddy.
DEC. 23
JAN. 16-18
jan. 19
Global Student Entrepreneur Awards deadline: If you’re a college or university student and you operate a business, then you may be the next worldwide entrepreneur competition winner. The application deadline is Dec. 23, and the Cleveland competition date is Jan. 6. Info: gsea.org/competitions-by-region/
IHE Plug-A-Thon at the IHE North American Connectathon: Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, 300 Erieside Ave., and HIMSS Innovation Center, 1 St. Clair Ave. NE, Cleveland. Four new plug-a-thon tracks were added to the IHE North American Connectathon: mHealth; Blockchain - Healthcare; Devices on FHIR; and Internet of Things - Medical. Each track explores new capabilities for products to communicate with each other across IT space within the health care industry. Info: iheusa.org/ihe-connectathon-registration
Free StartMart coworking day: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., 50 Public Square, Cleveland. Step away from the coffee shop or home office for a day, and see what StartMart, a startup and coworking community, is all about. Info: startmart.us/events/
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