Intern Supervisors Take the Next Step

Genesys Works Young Professionals spend 150 hours with Program Coordinators and technical trainers in preparation for working corporate jobs during their senior year. Though this is a significant amount of time, it pales in comparison to the time that Young Professionals spend with supervisors and co-workers in their workplaces. Many students in the Genesys Works program will spend 1000 hours working with individuals who are formative bosses, mentors, coaches, and friends. These relationships can be life changing.

Several of the employees at our corporate partners have decided to take things one step further. They are working to improve the internship experience for individuals that they supervise. But more than this, they are working to improve the quality of the experience for students currently in our program as well as those who will join in the future. Here are a few examples of the amazing work they are doing.

  Matt Pellowski (left), a member of the CPAT, poses with Capella interns.

Corporate Partner Advisory Team (CPAT): Formed in the fall of 2012, the CPAT is a forum where clients can meet to discuss issues, escalate problems, and be a regular part of the ongoing changes within the program. They provide advice, counsel, direction, and make recommendations regarding decisions, plans, timelines, and initiatives. They have already begun to do innovative work such as launching a satisfaction survey, tackling the intern onboarding process, and more. Thanks to Ray Jarosik (Medtronic) who serves as our lead as well as Matt Pellowski (Capella), Mike Kernan (Cargill), Clark Gooder (Target), and Cindy Taraldson (HealthPartners).

Genesys Works Intern Networks: Under the leadership of Lynn Bowman, a current Genesys Works intern supervisor from Accenture, all seven interns at Accenture’s Richfield location are meeting monthly to further develop professional skills and learn how employees of Accenture have developed their own careers. These meetings are an opportunity for interns to gain exposure to the wide variety of career paths that are available to them and to network with other Accenture leadership.  Upcoming topics include Managing Your Career, hearing a talk from former CEO, Bill Green, on Accenture’s “Secret Sauce”, and a workshop to update their resumes. 

The eight GW interns working downtown at Target Corporation have developed a network of their own, meeting once a week to share and learn from each other. It's a student-led initiative led by Young Professional, Ayan Ahmed, with sponsorship and support from her manager, Annette Griffin.

Employee Mentoring Programs: Kristoff Stewart, Kyle Baker, and several other members of the Young Professionals Network at Medtronic have partnered with Genesys Works to provide mentors for all 20 of the Genesys Works interns working at Medtronic. These mentors have committed to meet with their mentees at least once a week to discuss topics surrounding college and career success. This opportunity provides additional support to interns outside of their immediate supervisors and stresses the importance of creating meaningful professional relationships as well as further developing leadership skills.

At Cargill, each of our eight interns are matched with an employee mentor outside of the department in which the student works. With formal and informal interactions between mentors and mentees occurring at least once a month, students experience a high level of guidance and support from the caring folks at Cargill. A special thank you to IT Talent Lead, Roycie Earvin, for making this possible.   

If you are a supervisor at a Genesys Works corporate partner and are interested in ways to enhance the workplace experience in the future, look for information coming out late spring about additional training on taking internships at your company to the next level.

If you are an employee at a partner company and wondering how you might be able to give a one time or ongoing gift of your time to enrich a student's experience, please contact Genesys Works Program Manager, Joel Crandall, for more information.