Liz Wessel remembers how critical her first few internships were in shaping her career. One internship as a Private Equity Analyst at Blackstone helped her realize she didn’t want to go into Private Equity but did want to work abroad. The next at Google helped her learn she wanted to work in technology and an innovative environment. Years later, those experiences resulted in her working for Google abroad in India. And she has her internship experiences to thank.
National Intern Day is creating workplace reform across America
“When it comes to building a dream career, I believe that internships are among the most impactful experiences a student can have,” said Wessel. “Sometimes, internships help you figure out what you want to do, and other times, it helps you figure out what you don’t want to do.”
That’s a big reason why she co-founded WayUp — the leading platform that helps companies virtually recruit qualified, diverse early-career candidates. Diversity and inclusion are at the forefront of the platform, from having a diversity sourcing tool to an analytics dashboard that tracks how diverse candidates make it through a company’s hiring process. And they do this not only because it’s the “right thing to do” (in Liz’s words), and not only because it makes business sense, but also because employers who want to bring diversity into their companies look at the early-career talent pipeline as the most efficient way to do so.
“Those are just a few of the many reasons internships are so important for employers, and not just to students,” Wessel shared in an exclusive interview with Forbes. “That’s why my team created National Intern Day in 2017. It’s the first-ever official holiday to celebrate and recognize the future leaders of the world: interns.”
Since launching National Intern Day in 2017, the holiday has trended #1 worldwide every year on social media platforms like Twitter. Thousands of companies — from Microsoft to NASA — to famous individuals — from Nancy Pelosi to even Monica Lewinsky — have celebrated and acknowledged the day.
This year, National Intern Day falls on July 30th — but why is this year more important than ever to celebrate?
More than we’ve ever seen in recent history, today’s companies are looking to the future and asking themselves: how do we create a more diverse team with more diverse voices? According to WayUp, recruiting interns and entry-level talent is one of the best ways to increase your company’s diversity.
“While recruiting diverse candidates at the managerial and C-level is extremely important, many companies recognize that sourcing diverse talent at the entry-level can also be an effective way to bring new thoughts, perspectives, genders, and races to the table. Not to mention, internships are a great way for students to make money, while also helping students get their foot in the door if they don’t already have connections.”
According to Pew Research Center, Gen Z is the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in U.S. history — with 48% being non-white. The average rate at which an intern converts to a full-time hire is 56%, which means that bringing Gen Z into your company through internships and entry-level roles can be a highly effective strategy for employers.
Of course, COVID has not helped employment rates for aspiring interns (or for most people, for that matter). While internship hiring fell 49% this year, many companies took proactive efforts to bring their internship programs virtual and still provide formative growth opportunities for these students and recent grads. “We know that this year was harder to pull off an internship program, and we’re excited to celebrate the companies and interns who’ve gone beyond this summer,” said Wessel. “Some of our employer partners, like Citi, KPMG, and EY, even extended offers to every intern who completes a successful internship this summer.”
On July 30th, WayUp is encouraging companies nationwide to celebrate their interns, nominate their programs, and spread the word on social media using the hashtag #NationalInternDay. To help companies with little or no budget to work with, they’ve also created a list of low-cost ideas and activities to help companies celebrate remotely.
After the holiday every year, WayUp also releases its nationwide Top 100 Internships Programs list. The winners are voted on by an esteemed panel of HR and workplace experts like Margaret Spence and Trudy Steinfeld, and the list highlights companies dedicated to building meaningful programs for the next generation of talent. This year, WayUp will also be honoring the Top 5 Virtual Internship Programs and the Top 5 Diversity Programs of the year.
And while internships are a crucial part of any company’s D+I strategy, Wessel argues that it shouldn’t stop there. “Of course, companies shouldn’t stop focusing on entry-level. For example, if your junior employees are the only women at your organization, they’ll quickly recognize that there may be a ceiling for women and look to leave after a few years.
However, if you build out the right mentorship programs internally and show entry-level talent that they can grow into leadership roles within your organization, you’re building a long-term strategy that has proven to be quite effective for many organizations.”
