Intern programs provide low cost access to new talent

If you're interested in inexpensive help from people knowledgeable in the ins and outs of supply chain management, it is worth the effort to consider a university internship program.

One such program is in place at Western Illinois University (Macomb). In 1997, WIU's College of Business

& Technology merged its purchasing and transportation/distribution programs to create a supply chain management program. The university now offers internships in three areas: purchasing, transportation, and warehousing and encourages students to have at least two internships prior to graduation.

Responsibility for the program rests with Russell W. Morey, Ph.D., professor, supply chain management. "We have placed an increasing amount of emphasis on internships and co-op programs in the last few years as we continue to see the value of the experience for employers and for students prior to graduation," he says.

"Overall, about 80% of the participants in the programs are undergrads and the remaining 20% or so are MBA students," reports Morey. Over the last five years, between 80%-90% of interns ended up being hired by the employers. "Last year, though, because of cutbacks, some students who would normally have been hired were not," he adds.

One company that uses interns from WIU and other universities is Caterpillar (Peoria, Ill.). "We have had an internship program for quite awhile," reports Ben Cordani, a company spokesperson. "Corporate-wide, we usually have more than 100 interns a year in various disciplines. For interns in the area of purchasing, this often means exposure to our global purchasing activities." According to Cordani, students have the opportunity to learn more about their chosen professions from the things they learn during their experiences.

"We not only gets the benefit of the actual work from the student, but we have the opportunity to learn some things from the students," says Cordani. "They often have fresh ideas and new ways of looking at things that can be useful." In addition, the program gives the company an opportunity to consider interns for future employment. "It's a great first look at potential employees," he says.

One of WIU's former interns, Emily Knox, has recently begun working for Equilon Pipeline (Naperville, Ill.) as a transportation analyst after completing two internships at another company (which was unable to hire her due to budget cutbacks). "The most important thing I learned during my internships was how to make the connection between what we were learning in school and applying that to the real corporate-world environment," she says. In some instances, she found things dovetailed smoothly. In other cases, she found that the way the company did things was different than what she had learned. "However, the differences weren't major. Rather, the company merely 'tweaked' things a bit to make them fit into their specific environment."

Overall, Knox found that the experience helped her prepare for the business world. "Having the experience of working in a corporation and seeing how the operations work in real life have prepared me for what to expect on the job," she adds.

Keys to success

WIU's undergraduate students typically receive $2,000 to $2,500 a month. Graduate students receive up to $4,000 a month. In terms of housing, the school prefers that employers provide housing and relocation services and expenses. However, if this is not possible, the employer should at least be able to direct students to appropriate housing in the community.

"It is also important for employers to have specific projects or jobs available for interns," says Morey. "They should be able to provide detailed descriptions of what the interns will be doing." There are two types of internships. With project-focused internships, the employer should identify one or two projects for the intern. With job-focused internships, the employer should have a specific job description (e.g., being a buyer with responsibility for a small number of suppliers). According to Morey, some of the best experiences have been those where an intern was assigned a set of five or six suppliers to deal with. Creativity is also encouraged. "As part of the co-op program, one company is taking two students and treating them as one full-time employee," notes Morey. "They rotate in an out, so that when one is in school, the other is working."

In all cases: "It is important to make the effort to find projects that have the potential to challenge the intern, but also provide a good chance of success," states Cordani.

Each intern should also have a supervisor, mentor, or team leader with whom to report, interact, and seek assistance. "Interns in job-focused internships should have a supervisor, and interns in project-focused internships should have, at a minimum, a mentor or project team leader," says Morey.

In terms of training, the employer should be able to offer interns a one- or two-day orientation so they can become familiar and comfortable with the organization. Caterpillar takes that a step further. "We believe that there is an investment of time involved in mentoring and teaching interns," explains Cordani. "Interns at Caterpillar are here not only to work, but to learn, and part of the agreement is that we will provide regular training and educational experiences."

Finally, the employer should be willing to provide written evaluations of interns' progress on a regular basis. "This is how we find out how well the interns are working out," explains Morey. Along the same lines, it is important for the employer to notify Morey quickly if an intern isn't working out well. "It is also important to provide honest appraisals of interns," he adds. "In one case, an employer verbally told an intern he had done a good job and said they wanted to hire the student." However, the employer submitted a less than flattering evaluation to Morey of the student's performance and elected not to hire him. "To this day, the student still doesn't understand what happened," he adds.

WIU has had interns working in companies throughout most of the nation for over twenty years. "We even had one studying in the Netherlands last year," reports Morey. Any employer interested in being considered for having interns in supply chain management positions can contact Morey at: 309-298-1440, or rw-morey@wiu-edu .