Delivering a Great Internship Experience Amid the Challenges of COVID-19

We are very proud of our successful internship program and a major reason for that success is the unique experience we offer students. In this time of necessary social distancing, the experience of many summer interns is certainly different, but the quality of that experience has been maintained thanks to the work of our dedicated team and the adaptable spirit of our interns.

The process to develop this year’s summer internship program began with internal discussions and external evaluation. We aligned internally on a direction to execute the program virtually and reviewed this against the plans of our peers and guidance of other industry organizations to determine how to deliver this in a manner befitting the high expectations we have established for our program.

With this general framework in place, our team went to work on making a virtual program a success. This required extensive coordination, including everything from ensuring every corporate intern received a laptop to adapting virtual solutions to planned in-person activities; a willingness from the interns; and a commitment from leadership.

“We are very proud of the internship program we have been able to deliver amid these unique circumstances and are incredibly appreciative to the interns and leaders who made it a reality,” said Emma Rohe, Campus Recruiting and University Relations Specialist. “I have been blown away by how the interns have adapted to this new structure and how committed and flexible our leadership has been to ensure that the interns have a great experience.”

One of the key tenets of the internship program is creating a sense of community among the interns. While a bit more challenging in the current environment, our team was undeterred. Some of the ways they balanced this commitment in our interim normal include:

• Coordinating a virtual orientation including a dedicated breakout focused on providing guidance and directing to resources on how to effectively work remotely
• Introducing a virtual intern spirit day – what began as a fun way for interns to highlight pride in their schools evolved into different theme days that were celebrated with unique Teams backgrounds to celebrate in a relevant way
• Arranging a unique virtual group event where the interns took a short quiz to identify their professional personality and then worked on projects with those who shared their style and then those with disparate styles to help them learn how to work with different colleagues
• Encouraging regular activities promoting our company culture through Smucker Bingo – interns could dot their cards for everything from having an informal chat with a colleague from another department to posting on our Company Yammer account
• Launching a summer hours hangout, a virtual get together on Fridays at 12:30 for interns to discuss their experiences with each other

The internship class has appreciated the work to make their experience a rewarding one and, most importantly, have thrived in this new normal.

“It is incredibly gratifying to receive positive feedback from our interns on this year’s program but what makes us even prouder is to see the progress the students have made,” said Rohe. “They have not let these unique circumstances limit their passion for learning and development.”

Learn more about the Smucker internship program here.