Where to find an internship for summer 2015

There may be snow on the ground but for those hoping to obtain summer internships now is the time to act. This week the companies participating in the Monroe-Brown Internship Program were announced.

In 2015, there will be 26 participating companies offering a total of 33 internships.

Currently enrolled college students who wish to obtain real work world experience in engineering, health sciences, information technology, production planning, merchandising, architecture, interior design, human resources, marketing, sales and financial management are welcome to apply.

Once the intern is hired, he or she will work for the company for a minimum of 400 hours between May and September. This is typically full-time for ten weeks, but can be customized to suit the needs of the individual companies and interns.

Throughout the internship, the student will receive hourly wages, valuable networking opportunities and applied career experience, according to Southwest Michigan First.

Some interns have gone on to be hired by participating companies into full-time positions upon graduation. The internship program provides $3,000 in scholarship funding for college and an hourly wage paid by the employer.

Applications can be found here. The full list of companies offering Monroe-Brown internships for 2015 can be found here.

The program is open to incoming juniors, seniors and graduate students at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo College, Davenport University (Kalamazoo Campus only), Michigan State University, University of Michigan and second-year students at Kalamazoo Valley Community College.

Students attending Michigan State University and University of Michigan must have graduated from a high school in the greater Kalamazoo area.  

Ron Kitchens, chief executive officer of Southwest Michigan First, says  finding and keeping talent is the priority of the region’s top companies. They know that internships are one of the best ways to locate and develop it.

“Our hope is that this year’s interns, like many of our past ones, use this opportunity to find a path to their future employment,” says Robert M. Brown, president of the Monroe-Brown Foundation.

Source: Petey Stephanak, Southwest Michigan First