Are Internships at Non-Profits and Start-Up Companies Becoming More Desired than Internships at Fortune 500s

Signs are showing that the decade beginning with 2010 will bring on a large shift in the internship landscape — from being the domain of brand name businesses and organizations to mid-market and even small non-profit and start-up companies competing for the best and brightest students. Working on the front lines of the internship world I have seen this trend evolve due to a number of factors:

As job markets tighten students are increasingly viewing internships as an important prerequisite for future employment. With competition for brand name internship experience on the rise students and other intern applicants are now actively seeking positions at a wider range of organizations.

The barriers to finding and hosting interns are being lowered. Previously the gateways to finding interns consisted of expensive career fairs or other time intensive search processes; however, online platforms (like our own) and social media spaces are allowing small organizations to become proactive and competitive in their intern hunt.

A societal shift in the values and interests of the y-generation is occurring. Students are now the second largest volunteering demographic (behind baby boomers by a hair), and a recent 2007 study polling students found that a majority indicated the ethics of a company is more important than starting salary. Students today are growing up in a more global and open world then in the past and are looking to achieve a work-life balance not necessarily defined by big bucks and big names.

Finally, I would like to touch upon a change that is hard to quantify but easy to sense in the working world. Internships have become entirely mainstream. Intern programs are no longer seen as a form of bartering mentorship in order to help the son or daughter of friends and family, but are now being taken seriously by organizations to gain impactful part-time employees and to vet capable future employees. Competitive internship programs that understand how to deliver an interesting and valuable experience are cropping up at a number of less known organizations.

While fortune 500 companies, big financial institutions, and name brand firms will always attract top tier candidates with lucrative summer positions and a shiny badge on a successful applicants’ resume; in a more competitive job market experience is king. Oftentimes it is at the smaller organization where interns are getting thrown into the mix, running full fledged campaigns (from marketing, to sales and outreach, and other large scale projects), and finishing internships with new skills and confidence that offers a powerful leg up in the job market.

Look forward to our upcoming series diving deeper into the state of internships at start-up companies, and the state of non-profit internships.